Cosmos
by Masked Accordeur
Summary: On the search for Sakura's feathers, Syaoran and the others are pulled into this huge mess, containing a propchey from the ancients. Can it all be solved before everything is too late? And..who are these...look-a-likes?
1. Part One

For millennia after millennia, the sun and moon has rose and set. For such a long period of time, our ancestors have protected the Sacred Inferno Crystal and the Divinity Ice Comet, located deep inside their respective temples, miles and miles away from one another. Mass destruction will begin to the universe, Darkness will arise and blanket the valleys with black and shadows, when the Pendant of Jaydes is placed within the Temple of Souls. Too end the chaos summoned by the dark one, two chosen lovers will be sent. Distant love between them, they'll prevent the world's destruction. The Sacred Inferno Crystal, will be connected with the Divinity Ice Comet to end the chaos. The Heart of Fire, a strong warrior will be sent to retrieve the Sacred Inferno Crystal, and be challenged by many. The Eyes of Ice, a young talented mage will be sent to retrieve the Divinity Ice Comet, and be in deathly danger. When the two intersect, at the Temple of Souls, the Sacred Inferno Crystal and Divinity Ice Comet will connect, but the destruction will continue. To stop the chaos, a bond must be created between Fire and Ice, a bond stronger than any in the universe. It all must end...with a kiss...

_Cosmos_

"Looks like it's going to rain tonight, Kurogane-san." Syaoran said looking back at the man underneath the big oak tree. The boys, Syaoran, Kurogane and Fai are travelers, searching for Princess Sakura's feathers of memory. At the moment, Sakura was sleeping in Kurogane's arms, and Syaoran was taking a look around the area. They seemed to have been warped to an area not highly populated by people, but by vegetation. Kurogane set Sakura's sleeping body on the grass and stood up, walking out of the shade.

"Yes, it won't be long until it starts pouring." he added. Sitting in the shade next to Sakura, was Fai, holding Mokona in his arms. He looked up passed the canopy of the oak tree and sighed.

"We might want to find shelter, before it starts raining. If we can't, we'll have to use Kuro-puu as our shelter." After hearing such a comment, Kurogane clenched his fist and made his way towards Fai.

"What is that suppose to mean?!" he hollered.

"Kurogane, just ignore him. You know he won't stop." Syaoran said, stepping into the shaded area.

"I know, that's the sad part." he grumbled walking away from the golden haired boy. The three boys sat underneath the giant oak, staring off into the forest before them. The only sounds heard was the sound of birds chirping, Sakura's soft breathing, a soothing flow of a creek, and rustling of the leaves in the wind.

"It's very peaceful here." Fai said, catching a small green leaf in his hand.

"Yes, reminds me a little of home." Kurogane replied, relaxing himself. Shortly after, a slight movement was made from the princess. Her hand went up and covered her forehead, shielding her eyes from the sun peering through the canopy. With a small glance, Syaoran looked at her and gave her a warm smile.

"Morning princess, while you were asleep, we where brought here by Mokona, as you know." he said. She groaned quietly, then sat up to face the boys.

"I always hate this. Whenever the action kicks in, I fall asleep. I always miss everything." she mumbled.

"Don't feel bad Sakura-chan." Mokona said, letting her smile grow. "One time, you won't miss any action!" Sakura smiled at the small creature, and patted her head.

"Thank you Mokona." she said. Mokona smiled at the princess, then she looked back at the boys. "Are any of you hurt?"

"No princess," Fai said, changing his position, "Everyone is fine." She nodded and looked at the boys. For minutes no one spoke a word. The forest seemed lifeless. No movement of animals, or people, just still. The wind made the leaves rustle, but other than that, silence.

"Excuse me for breaking the quite," Kurogane interrupted, "but does anyone know where we are?" Syaoran looked over at him, and shook his head.

"I think we are in a very quiet forest." Fai said, "but of course you knew that. You mean you want the country name?" Kurogane glared at Fai with a irritated look.

"No duh!" he said.

"Now just relax Kuro-run." Fai said, smiling with joy.

"STOP WITH THE NAMES!" he yelled.

"Guys, please." Syaoran said, stepping in between the two. "Now that you two are done fighting," Syaoran walked over to Mokona, "Do you know what country we're in?" Mokona was silent for a little, thinking over where they might be, then she spoke up.

"I believe we are in the country of Terrace. If I am correct, Terrace is mainly covered by forest, which we can already tell. Also, Terrace is best known for it's giant trees, and clear, fresh water."

"Terrace..." Sakura said, looking at her surroundings. She made a smile and walked over to one of the trees. She leaned on it's trunk, resting her head upon the hard bark.

"Are you listening to it, Sakura-san?" Syaoran asked, walking over to her. She didn't respond. He looked around and sat back down on the grass. Kurogane looked up again, and then he grunted.

"I can't tell what time of day it is." he grumbled, "The canopy is too thick for me to see the sun's position."

"You can tell the time by the sun, Kuro-chi?" Fai asked.

"I can tell a lot of things just by objects. I can tell where things are with my eyes closed. I can do a lot of things, unlike you." Kurogane said, resting his back up against one of the trees.

"Wow Kuro-chi, you can do almost anything." Fai said, amazed by Kurogane's talent.

"Almost anything." he snuffed. The crew stayed in the silent forest for quite some time, not uttering a sound. The peaceful forest had taken them in, and relaxed them. The sun was shining through the canopy, making the ground checkered with shadow and light. The wind made the leaves shake and the creek could still be heard.

"The river..." Sakura's voice sang out from the silence. Her voice was so calm and soft just like the surrounding noise.

"What Sakura?" Syaoran asked, coming back to reality.

"The river...is near an old ruin. In the ruin...is a strong energy force..." she said.

"The tree must be telling her this crap." Kurogane said, getting back on his feet.

"But it does sound like her feather." Fai said. Syaoran nodded and walked up to Sakura.

"Come on Sakura, let's go get your feather. The tree said it's in the ruin by the river?" Syaoran asked, placing his hand on her shoulder. Sakura looked over her shoulder, and gazed deep into Syaoran's amber eyes.

"Yes." she said, feeling relaxed and safe.

"Well then, no more wasting time!" Kurogane grumbled, "Less just find this ruin and get out of this world. I'm tired of all the silence."

"Oh Kuro-pii, you're so impatient." Fai said.

"KNOCK IT OFF!!!" he yelled. Syaoran and Sakura looked at them as the argued, then at each other.

"This adventure wouldn't be anything without them." Syaoran chuckled.

"It's wouldn't be anything without you either Syaoran." Sakura said. He smiled and they followed Kurogane and Fai, deeper into the forest. Passing many trees, Sakura seemed to have a slight frown on her face.

"These trees...."she managed to say, "Are lifeless. They have no soul. I can't hear any of them."

"Are you saying there dead?" Syaoran asked.

"If there were dead, we would be able to see that." Fai said, grabbing a low branch and looking at the leaves. "These leaves are green and very alive. Are they not?"

"Just because the tree is alive, and it's leaves are green, doesn't mean it contains a soul." Sakura said, trailing off in a distant state of mind. Syaoran noticing her change in words, walked over to her and held her shoulders.

"Let's not get lost princess." he said calmly.

"Speaking of lost, where is Kuro-rin?" Fai asked. Syaoran looked around, Sakura too, but no one saw the tall warrior.

"Kurogane!" Mokona yelled, but the sound was drained by the trees.

"Kuro-pippi!!!" Fai yelled, but no response. After some more shouting of his name, the bushes began rustling. It was the wind, answering their calls.

"The wind!" Sakura said, chasing after it. "It's telling me something!"

"Princess wait!" Syaoran called after her. Falling close behind her, Fai and Syaoran followed Sakura deeper into the forest. Suddenly, she stopped running.

"Here." she said, moving some branches out of her way, and revealed an open area. Surrounding it was the forest, trees of green and the sun shining right into the circular area. Where most of the sunlight was shining, stood an old ruin, with strange writings about it.

"Oh finally you guys show up." Kurogane's voice grumbled. Syaoran reacting quickly, looked around to see Kurogane standing at the foot of the large stone steps.

"Why'd you leave us Kuro-rin? You had me worried sick." Fai said, running over to Kurogane. He rolled his eyes and sighed heavily.

"You guys weren't moving, and I got impatient. Then I found this large temple." All four of them stared up at the temple. It seemed it would give out any minute, since the stone was so cracked. All among the walls where writings and drawings of symbols and creatures, that it could mean just about anything.

"Are you thinking what I am thinking?" Kurogane asked out loud.

"Inside, there is a voice..." Sakura said, almost in a whisper.

"Princess?" Syaoran asked.

"A voice, calling us forward." she said. As if Sakura was under mind control, she made her way up the steps, slowly into the temple. After her every step, you could hear it crumble underneath her feet.

"Princess careful!" Syaoran yelled, running after her.

"I see no hurry." Kurogane growled, and began walking up the steps. Fai made his way to the steps, in complete silence.

Inside the old temple was almost the same as the out side. The wind was somehow blowing inside, probably through the cracked stone. According to what Sakura said, voices were everywhere among the corridors. As the four continued walking, they came to a spot with four different passage ways. One heading straight, one left, one right, and one down.

"I guess we part here." Kurogane said, taking off towards the right.

"It's calling to me..." Sakura said, heading straight forward.

"Fai, you can handle the below can't you?" Syaoran asked, looking toward the left corridor.

"I can manage." Fai said, taking the stairs down. Syaoran watched him, then headed down the passage way.

"It's so....quiet in this temple." Syaoran said out loud, letting his voice echo down the hall. As he made his way further down, the halls got darker and darker. He grabbed a stick he found on the ground, (actually almost tripped over) and lit it. When he reached the end of the hall, he saw something written in a weird text, upon the wall.

"That's the same writing we saw outside on the temple walls!" Syaoran exclaimed, walking towards it. He placed his hands on some of the symbols.

"What do these mean?" he asked. Some where shaped like the sun, another like the moon. He let his eyes take in every sight, and he tried to figure it out. He ran his hand over the ancient text, as if trying to read it.

"If only I knew what this meant!" he said. He continued running his hand along the text, trying to see if any of the symbols seemed familiar to him, but none of them seemed to be recognizable to him. He put his head down in shame, and stepped back into the middle of the room. He was now standing on a symbol in the shape of a tree...

"What the hell is this crap!" Kurogane yelled. He had reached the end of his passageway, and before him was ancient written text upon the wall.

"I have no idea what this says!" he shouted. He looked some of the text over, but still, he couldn't translate.

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!" he shouted. His voice echoed through the temple, but that didn't make the text readable.

"Kurogane, you shouldn't yell...it might scare people." Mokona said, sticking her head out of his shirt.

"When did you get here!!!" he shouted, once again his voice echoing.

"Quit yelling!" Mokona replied back. Still mad at Mokona, he chased her to the middle of the room, now standing on a Fire symbol etched into the stone floor...

"I hear you calling me..." Sakura said, reaching the end of her corridor. She saw the text, but couldn't make out what it said.

"Why're you screaming? What's wrong? Tell me." Sakura said, running her hand on the wall. She stepped back from the wall, and stood on a symbol in the shape of a cloud, in the middle of the corridor. "Tell me...."

A loud crumbling sound was made as Fai reached the end of his hallway. He walked uneasy towards the carvings on the wall, but stopped.

"Must be the ancient text." he whispered, looking it over a few times. He couldn't read any of it. He took a few paces back, now standing on an ice symbol in the center...

Around all four corridors, the temple began shaking. Out of every corridor, huge outburst of light shined out of each hallway.

"WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON?!" Kurogane shouted. As the outburst of light continued, the ancient text on the wall shifted. It changed to there own language, so they could decipher it.

"Kurogane look!" Mokona said, now noticing the change in symbols.

"Yeah I know you stupid white pork bun!" he hollered.

"I can read it now..."Syaoran said not moving from his spot. He looked up at the wall, and began reading what was written.

"For millennia after millennia, the sun and moon has rose and set. For such a long period of time, our ancestors have protected the Sacred Inferno Crystal and the Divinity Ice Comet, located deep inside their respective temples, miles and miles away from one another. Mass destruction will begin to the universe..." Syaoran read.

"Darkness will arise and blanket the valleys with black and shadows, when the Pendant of Jaydes is placed within the Temple of Souls. Too end the chaos summoned by the dark one, two chosen lovers will be sent. Distant love between them, they'll prevent the world's destruction..." Sakura read the ancient text, ignoring the outburst of light.

"The Sacred Inferno Crystal, will be connected with the Divinity Ice Comet to end the chaos. The Heart of Fire, a strong warrior will be sent to retrieve the Sacred Inferno Crystal, and be challenged by many. The Eyes of Ice, a young talented mage will be sent to retrieve the Divinity Ice Comet, and be in deathly danger. When the two intersect, at the Temple of Souls,..." Kurogane read, his voice calming down.

"the Sacred Inferno Crystal and Divinity Ice Comet will connect, but the destruction will continue. To stop the chaos, a bond must be created between Fire and Ice, a bond stronger than any danger. It all must end...with a kiss..." Fai whispered, his voice growing distant. The old ruin continued rumbling, and the light continued to shine.

"We've got to move Kurogane!" Mokona yelled, feeling in danger.

"I've been trying that you stupid thing. I can't move my feet!" he shouted. Syaoran, Sakura and Fai couldn't move either, somehow there feet were stuck on the symbols on the floor.

"You want us....do you?" Sakura said, letting her voice echo off the stone room walls. "Then take us....away..." Out of each symbol, an outburst of light came through, engulfing all five of them. Everything around them was changing. The cracks in the stone wall were repairing, and the room brightened. As everything around them was getting younger, the light made all their visions white.

"What's going on?!" Syaoran yelled. He was suddenly lifted off his feet, and was somehow floating. He assumed it was the light, or worse, they were being transport.

"I hope Mokona is doing this!" he said, as his vision shifted to colors beyond describe...


	2. Part Two

Sakura was blinded by the sunlight when she opened her eyes. The group was all together, but unconscious. Sakura was the first to wake. She stumbled to her feet and looked around her. Surrounding her was a large faded curtain, with strange symbols about it. The drape was faded, easy to see through. All around her, the large windows let in whatever light was around. The floor was made of stone, along with the rest of the interior. On one little spot in the floor, was a glass tile.

"What the?" Sakura said, stumbling on over to the glass tile. She walked slowly towards it, being very careful about her footing. When she reached the tile, she wanted to touch the glass, but was a tiny bit afraid to.

"If I pass out or get in danger, the others will have to help me." she thought. Sakura always felt bad when they had to save her, so she was doing her best not to get into too much trouble. The princess rose from her knees, and walked away from the glass panel. She returned to her sleeping group, and knelt down next to Syaoran's body.

"I hope you guys wake up soon." she said quietly.

"Don't worry princess, they will." Mokona said, coming out of Kurogane's shirt. "I can sense it."

"Mokona! Did you warp us here?" Sakura asked, raising her voice just a tad.

"To be honest princess...no I didn't." Mokona said, letting her ears fall to the sides. "I have no idea how we got here. Maybe while the others are asleep, we can search the place!"

"Actually Mokona, I don't want to do that. I'll just get in trouble again, and they'll have to risk their lives to save me." Sakura said, turning her head to look at the glass panel again.

"Alright, suit yourself Sakura." Mokona said, snuggling in the princess's arms. "I guess we wait till one of the three boys wakes up."

"Yes I guess we do." Sakura said. Sakura stayed seated, and looked around again. The room was vast and had the exact same faded drapes hanging off of every window. The sounds heard were, well basically none. The only sound that could be heard was a sound of shining light, and rippling water.

"There's water here?" Sakura sounded confused. She looked around, and so did Mokona.

"Where, I don't see any water anywhere." Mokona confessed.

"I know, I don't either, but I hear it." the princess said, hugging Mokona tighter. The sound of shuffling flowed into Sakura's ears. She turned around to face the group, and saw Kurogane sit up.

"Kurogane-san!" Sakura yelled. He looked at her, then the surroundings.

"Where in the hell are we?" he said, standing up on two feet.

"That's what I asked Mokona. She didn't warp us here." Sakura said, standing up next to Kurogane. The two of them looked around again, and then Sakura decided to point what she saw earlier to Kurogane.

"Other than the weird decor, look at that floor stone over there." she said, pointing to the glass panel. Kurogane's expression turned into a confused look and he walked towards it.

"What the hell?" he said, squatting down before it.

"I know right?" Sakura said, walking beside him. Mokona looked at it too, but none of the two could figure out what it was.

"That is really strange." he said. Kurogane got up on his feet and walked back to the group.

"I guess we wait for Syaoran-kun and Fai-san?" Sakura asked, sitting down on the floor.

"I guess so." Kurogane grumbled, sounding annoyed. The three of them sat in silence, and then Sakura spoke up again.

"Kurogane, do you hear the sound of water flowing?" she asked. He looked at her, still annoyed and sighed heavily.

"To be honest yes I do, but I don't see any water."

"I know, where do you think it's coming from?" she asked.

"Our imagination." he grumbled. The silence continued on for what felt like hours, then Syaoran shifted, and sat up.

"Sakura-chan, you're alright." he said, running over to her.

"Yes Syaoran-kun, I am. Kurogane-san is too." she said, rising to her feet.

"Well we can't just stay here." Kurogane said, standing up again. "Let's get going. We need to get out of here."

"But Kurogane-san?" Sakura said, looking at him. "Why such a hurry?"

"I don't want to be here for one. And two, we're still looking for your feathers, and according to Mokona, there isn't one here." he said.

"But what about Fai-san?" she asked.

"Look we're not leaving! We're just looking around more. Jeez!" he grumbled, walking over to the glass panel.

"He's right Sakura-chan. Let's get going." he said, following him. Sakura began following Syaoran, and then she stopped.

"Mokona, watch over Fai-san." she said, chasing after the two boys.

"Yes you're highness." Mokona said, hopping over to Fai. Sakura and Syaoran caught up with Kurogane, who was still staring at the glass panel.

"What the hell is this suppose to be?" he said.

"Maybe it's something...important?" Syaoran suggested. Sakura thought for some seconds then looked up at the ceiling.

"Hm...I don't know." Kurogane said. Syaoran and Kurogane began talking, trying to figure out the glass panel. Sakura looked forward, and walked in the direction she was facing. After a few steps, she was standing on the glass panel. It shook for some time, and then it rose up, like a platform.

"Syaoran-kun!" she yelled, from her new position. The boys looked back then up at her.

"Great work Sakura-chan!" Syaoran called. Sakura looked around now, and noticed a hallway.

"It lead me to a passage way. Should I take it?" she called down to them.

"Yeah, and if you find anything, tell us!" Syaoran shouted. Sakura nodded and ran down the hallway. The stone in here was different then where they were before. It used to be a nice brown stone, but now, it was a lovely ocean blue. As Sakura ran further down the corridor, the sound of water got louder...

"So I guess the glass panel was a platform up to the second level of the structure." Syaoran said, as he and Kurogane continued walking. They were in a different corridor from which they started in. The room was much bigger and had a more drafty scent to it. The faded curtains still existed and the windows were still letting light in.

"This room is sort of the same from where we started." Syaoran said. As he looked around he noticed something else. On the walls, about four feet apart, were holes. Not just tiny ones, but the size of a pipe.

"That's an odd way to decorate a room." Kurogane said, noticing the holes to. As they continued looking around Syaoran, trailed off away from Kurogane. He noticed a statue, of a woman. On the pedestal it stood upon, was the same ancient text from before. The statue stood as high as the ceiling. All of the light that came through the windows, shined right upon the statue.

"This is really old, I wonder who she was." Syaoran thought to himself.

"Hey kid, no getting lost." Kurogane said, walking into the middle of the room. Syaoran looked at Kurogane over his shoulder and smiled.

"Oh I was just looking at this statue. Wondering what it meant to the people that lived here before, or live here now."

"Hm...yeah that might be interesting." Kurogane said, stepping off into a different direction. Without knowing, Kurogane stepped onto a certain stone, and it sunk into the floor. Rusty bars fell down and covered the two exits.

"We're trapped!" Kurogane shouted. Syaoran jumped back, and clenched his fist. Kurogane drew his sword, and got in his stance. As the boys began looking around for enemies, the holes in the wall let out a heavy smoke...

Slowly, Fai opened his eyes, and looked at Mokona.

"Everyone left me huh?" he said, getting up onto his feet.

"Yes, they went searching for clues. Sakura told Mokona to say with you." Mokona said, smiling big. Fai looked at her, and rubbed her head.

"Well thanks for that, but now..." His gaze went off towards the standing glass panel that Sakura used. "I want you to watch Sakura. She'll need you more than me."

"But Fai-san..."Mokona sounded sad. Fai smiled at her.

"Don't worry, I can handle myself." he said. Mokona nodded, and flew up to where Sakura went to. Fai looked around to see if he could go anywhere. Hidden behind one of the drapes was a passage way. He smiled slightly, and walked over to it.

"Drapes are so faded, I can see right through them." he said, pushing the long curtain aside. He looked down the passage, and then walked down it slowly. The only sound that rang into Fai's ears was the sound of his own footsteps. The further he went down the tunnel the darker it got. Even though with his every step, it seemed to him he wasn't even moving at all.

"Strange..." he said out loud."The more I walk, the darker it gets, but," In mid-sentence he turned around and saw that what seemed like yards away, was the entrance. "I'm not covering any ground..." He continued walking, letting the sound of his footsteps echo off the walls. Out of all the silence, a loud rumble was made. Fai turned around immediately to see his only exit was covered by a solid blue stone wall.

"What?" he shouted, his voice echoing off the stone. On the roof of the tunnel, some stones moved to one side, releasing water into the narrow passage.

"No!" he shouted. Fai ran towards the covered exit and began pounding on the wall.

"HELP ME! MOKONA! SAKURA! SYAORAN! KURO-TAN! ANYONE!" Fai shouted, the water filling up more and more with each second...

Sakura reached the end of her hallway, with Mokona sitting right on her shoulder. On her right, was a small statue of a woman, holding her hands together like a cup. On her neck, there was a lining left for something in the shape of a necklace. On her left was what amazed Sakura. It was a wall, made of water! There was nothing holding the water back, and the other side wasn't submerged. Sakura walked over to it, and touch the wall. She couldn't get her hand through it, but it was real water.

"How strange..." she said, her voice falling distant. She looked back at the statue, which was staring right at her it seemed. Sakura walked towards it and lifted her hand towards the cupped hands of the statue. She placed her hand gently on the statue's. The statue's eyes glowed and then a beam of light shot out of them, making an opening in the water wall.

"Amazing..." Sakura said, walking lifelessly towards the opening.

"Uh, Sakura-chan, I don't think that's safe..." Mokona mumbled, feeling unsafe with the princess's decision...

The smoke filled the air quickly, making Syaoran and Kurogane cough uncontrollably.

"We've got to stop the smog!" Kurogane yelled, now realizing where it's coming from.

"Yeah, question is how." Syaoran shouted from his covered mouth. Kurogane looked around; trying to see through the thick black smog, but it was too thick.

"Look for something to plug those holes with." he said, running out of Syaoran's sight.

"Alright." Syaoran said, walking off in the opposite direction. They searched whatever they could, but nothing could be found to cover the holes letting out the smog.

"Damn it!" Kurogane yelled. Syaoran heard him, but he couldn't find him.

"Kurogane, what are we going to do?" Syaoran called out to him, still muffled by his own hand.

"To be honest Syaoran...we wait for death..." Kurogane said. Syaoran's eyes widened as he realized it was kind of a fact. They were screwed.

"I just hope...Sakura-chan's alright, and Fai-san to." Syaoran said, finding his way to Kurogane.

"Syaoran, I bet they are in just as much trouble as we are." Kurogane said his voice a little croaky due to the smog.

"Probably right." Syaoran replied.

"I know I am." He grumbled again. Syaoran looked around, of what he could see, and noticed something.

"Look! That statue's eyes!" Syaoran yelled, pointing at the statue. "They're glowing!" Kurogane looked up at it, and saw it to, well more like two bright lights through deep black smog. Beams of light shot out of the eyes, making some of the smog vanish. The light began drawing a design on the floor. It was some ancient symbol, and when the light finished drawing the symbol, it glowed brightly, making it visible through the smog.

"What does that symbol mean?" Syaoran yelled. The symbol shined brightly, but the smog began making it darker around the symbol. The light shined brightly on the symbol, and Syaoran and Kurogane, since they were standing on it. Suddenly it focused on Kurogane, and the beam focused right into his chest.

"What the hell!" he shouted. The light kept its focus on Kurogane's chest, and then he heard a soft voice of a woman.

"The Heart of Fire..."

"Who's there!" Kurogane yelled. Syaoran looked at Kurogane, confused since he didn't hear the voice.

"Kurogane-san is something wrong?" he asked. The smog got thicker, and Kurogane finally collapsed of having too much smog in his lungs, along with Syaoran. As their sights went to darkness, Kurogane could still here the voice.

"The Heart of Fire...has arrived..."

"Somebody help me!" Fai continued yelling. The rushing water was now up to his chest area. He was running out of time. He continuing hitting the stone wall and shouting, but it was useless.

"Someone help me! I know someone can hear me!" he shouted. The water continuing filling up, faster and faster with each second he wasted. He had thought about running towards the end of the tunnel, but he realized he wouldn't reach it in time, and probably by the time he did, he'd drown.

"Oh please someone please!" he whined, hitting his fist against the stones again. The water had now reached his neck level. He let his head hang down, and he started a soft sobbing sound.

"I'm...sorry...I couldn't live long enough for you..." he whispered. He let his hand fall down to his side, and made the other hand come up to his chest.

"I'm sorry...I couldn't...help you..." he spoke quietly. He closed his eyes, and let the water submerge him inside the tunnel. He held his breath, and kept one hand over his chest.

"I'm sorry..." he thought again. With his back turned still to the end of the tunnel, a shining stream of light came through and touched his back, reflecting its symbol upon his back. As the light touched him, it shined brighter. At the very end of the tunnel, the statue's eyes glowed brighter with the light. Slowly, the statue's hands uncupped, opening a small, but powerful force. Fai opened his eyes, and turned around, to see the stream of light before him. He saw the design reflecting on his chest, then looked back at the stream of light. The beam aimed itself towards his eyes, and shined brighter. Fai covered his eyes, but was now amazed. Through the sound of rushing water, he heard a soft voice of a woman talking to him. It wasn't familiar, but he could hear it.

"The Eyes of Ice..." the voice said. Fai moved his arms to see if anyone was there, but no one was near him. He gasped for air, but all he got was water in his lungs. As his vision faded he heard the voice again.

"The Eyes of Ice...has come..."

Sakura continued her long walk towards the center of the room, which was also made of glass. Before the glass flooring, was a giant tablet, with ancient symbols all over it.

"Sakura, I think we should head back." Mokona mumbled, feeling really scared. Sakura ignored Mokona, and continued walking slowly towards the tablet.

"What do you want?" she said, apparently now talking to the spirits. Suddenly wind twirled around Sakura, making a woman appear before her. Her eyes were a bright blue and so was her skin. Her ears were pointed and her hair was long and black. She smiled and looked up at Sakura.

"I've see you have come young one." the woman said. Mokona looked around, but didn't sense anything. Sakura looked at the spirit and stared into her eyes.

"The statue, looks like this woman..." Sakura thought, recalling her sights from earlier. It was indeed true; it was almost an exact replica, the statue, to the woman.

"Who are you?" she asked, her eyes becoming a little soulless. The older woman smiled and looked at Sakura.

"Is that really your concern? Or is it your friends?" the woman smiled and made tiny bubbles appear around herself. In each bubble it showed Sakura's friends, Syaoran, Kurogane, and Fai in the dangers they were in. Sakura's eyes widened and she held back a scream.

"Syaoran-kun!" she yelled. The other woman smiled with happiness and placed her hands on her hips.

"Release them!" Sakura shouted, falling on her knees.

"I will, later. You have something I need. If you give it to me, I'll release your friends, tell you my name, and give you your real mission." the woman said.

"Well whatever it is, you can have it! I just want Syaoran-kun alive! Along with the others!" Sakura shouted. The woman smiled and looked at Sakura in the eyes.

"What I want is your feathers." Sakura looked up at the woman, a little shocked at her request.

"If I give you my feathers, I'll forget everything." Sakura said, with a worry tone.

"Not exactly, I don't want those feathers." the woman said, walking over to Sakura. She touched the top of the princess's head, and shuffled with it. When she removed her hand, she was holding a small blue feather with purple lines on it.

"These kind of feathers, are mine." the woman said.

"Oh my!" Mokona shrieked. "Those are the feathers I must be sensing!"

"Where did you get this feather?" the woman asked Sakura.

"I...found it in an old ruin. I was going to take it to Syaoran...but, less talk later! Release my friends first!" Sakura yelled.

"Oh yes, I forgot about them." she said. The lady smiled and snapped her fingers. Sakura gazed into the bubbles, and watched all the smog fade out of the one corridor, and all the water drain from the other. "My name, Sakura..." the woman spoke, "is Jaydes."

"Jaydes..." Sakura said, then she gasped, "That name was in the prophecy I read!" Jaydes looked up at Sakura, and smiled.

"You read that? Good, cause that's what my request is to you too. You need to find my feathers, and bring them to me. Your friends on the other hand..." she said, falling quiet.

"What? What do they need to do!" Sakura yelled. Jaydes smiled again, her purple lips spreading across her face.

"Just by looking at you, you haven't read the whole prophecy written by the Gods have you?" Jaydes said, still smiling.

"I read what was there!" Sakura shouted. Mokona hid behind Sakura.

"Well, you must be off looking for my feathers. I'll warp you to your destinat..."Jaydes was interrupted.

"Wait! What about my friends? And in the prophecy by the Gods, it said something about the Pendant of Jaydes." Sakura said. Jaydes didn't respond to her, just smiled and placed her hand on her hip.

"The pendant yes, that's already been spoken for. You see, someone stole that from me, and I was hoping you could find that to, and bring it to me. Once you do, I can send you back to your own world, but for now, farewell." Jaydes said. With a flick of Jaydes wrist, a light brighter than any star beamed out from beneath Sakura. The same happened to Syaoran, Kurogane, and Fai.

"Wait!" Sakura yelled.

"Hope you all find each other soon." Jaydes said, snapping her fingers. After the sound of the snap echoed through the corridors, Sakura and her band of friends were gone. Jaydes's smile grew and she turned around to look at the group of four behind her.

"Now you know you're mission guys." she said to them, smiling even bigger.

"Yes ma'am. Your pendant will be placed where it needs to be, along with the Scared Inferno Crystal and Divinity Ice Comet." one said, flipping his hair and smiling evilly. He looked at the other three, one being really tall with black hair; two were shorter, one a female, and the other short one with brown hair.

"You better not fail me." Jaydes said, turning her back to them.

"Oh we won't, my lady." the one said, clenching the pendant tighter in his hand...


	3. Part Three

The sun had just set and the night fell cold. When Syaoran opened his eyes, he sat up and glanced around his surroundings. The area was open, no trees to hide under if it rained, or anything. A small stream flowed right past him, soothing the night sky. There were small bushes here and there, and the same with rocks. About ten feet ahead of him was a small cave with stones in the mountain to make a doorway. Across the small stream was another one and flicking fire was seen on the walls.

"Where am I?" Syaoran asked himself, as he managed to his feet, still looking around. He didn't see anything of people or animals. He looked around him, still seeing nothing. Then he noticed where the stream was coming from. He turned to his left, to see a small waterfall, releasing water into the stream. Right next to the waterfall was another stone wall, but had an opening in it, with a path. Syaoran, being a curious one, followed the path, into the stoned area and looked around. In the center, there was a small temple, and surrounding that a small moat. A set of stepping stones led to the small temple. On his left was a bigger waterfall, releasing water from the mountains into the moat, which will turn into the water in the stream. Standing on one of the stepping stones, was an old man with a beard as long as the robe he wore. He held a large cane, and he was staring at the waterfall. Syaoran was happy to see he wasn't the only human in the area, and he ran over to him, ready with questions.

"Excuse me," Syaoran said, coming to the first stepping stone. The old man turned too looked at Syaoran and scratched his head.

"Why should I excuse you? What did you do young one?" he asked.

"Uh...well...ugh, never mind." Syaoran said, "Could you tell me where I am?"

"Well, depends. What is your name young chap?" he asked, stepping onto the island with the temple on it.

"Oh right, I'm Syaoran." he said, following the old man. He looked at Syaoran, then back at the temple.

"Syaoran hm? Names these days. My name is Earthwalker." he said, looking at Syaoran.

"Is that so? Now could you answer my questions?" he asked. Earthwalker looked at Syaoran and smiled.

"Now that we are properly introduced, why don't we head inside my home and talk about your questions." he said, walking inside. Syaoran nodded, and followed Earthwalker inside.

The old stone temple was covered in long scrolls spread out all over the walls. On each was same old ancient text, the same text from before. The only thing of furniture in that small stone cabin was a table, an old wooden chair, and a tiny wooden bed, with leaves.

"Is there not a store here?" Syaoran asked.

"What sonny?" Earthwalker said, sitting down in his chair.

"Uh...never mind." Syaoran said, looking at the old man in the eyes. "Now my questions. First where am I?" Earthwalker leaned back in his chair, and rocked in slightly.

"Syaoran was it? You're in Deadwood Hollow. As you can see, there is not much life here." Earthwalker explained. "This is one of the lands that used to hold great secrets from the Gods, but all that is gone now."

"Gone? Why? What happened?" Syaoran asked, sitting down on the floor. Earthwalker looked into Syaoran's hopeful eyes and stood up.

"In the center of this hollow is a small temple. Inside is the ancient text of the Gods. It talks about a prophecy, one of mass destruction..."

"Wait! Did the one in that little temple ever say anything about a Scared Fire Crystal and Divinity Ice Comet?" Syaoran interrupted. Earthwalker looked at him.

"How did you know that?" he asked.

"I read it before I was warped into this world. As you can tell by my clothing, I don't come from here."

"Well, how much did you read?" he asked.

"Huh? You mean, there's more?" Syaoran asked. Earthwalker looked at Syaoran with a surprised look.

"You didn't read the whole thing?" he asked. When Syaoran shook his head in disapproval, Earthwalker sighed and looked at him.

"Alright, since I am a kindly old man, I'll tell you the rest." He said, telling Syaoran the whole prophecy...

"Young lady wake up. Young lady!" a voice called through the young princess's ears. She slowly began to open her eyes, and saw sunlight, brighten her vision. Sakura sat up and wiped her eyes.

"Oh goodness you're up." the older woman said, helping Sakura to her feet.

"What's going on?" Sakura asked, but the older woman pushed her along.

"Come on come on, we've gotta get you cleaned up. You're a mess." she said. She walked Sakura through a huge iron gate, into a corridor with a long spiral pathway up. She walked her up and then left her there.

"Wait here. I'll get the water ready." she said. Sakura nodded, and looked out before her. She almost lost her balance, from what she saw before her. The entire structure was surrounded by water and mountains. Stepping stones were in the water, making a nice path to a small dome. Along the long walk way of the structure, where she was before, were beautiful flowers of purple and blue and yellow. The sky was a lovely blue, with no clouds to be seen. The sun was just over the place, making its lovely reflection on the water below.

"Wow, this is amazing!" Sakura said, looking back at the woman. "Where am I?"

"All that later missy, you need to get in that bath!" she said. She grabbed Sakura's arm, and pulled her into the center of the place. Grassy fields were about here and there, and the large marble columns held it up. It was an open area, and the sun was shining in. A small pool of water was right before an alter with three gems in place. Sakura thought it was a courtyard. The woman set Sakura down before the water, and turned her back.

"Alright, now get undressed and in the water." she said, walking away. Sakura slipped off her clothing and slowly slipped into the pool of water. It wasn't cold, and it wasn't too hot, it was just perfect for her. Sakura turned around to face the alter, and the other woman was standing on it.

"Now that you're getting cleaned off, let's began talking. What is your name?" she asked. Sakura looked up at the woman and then swallowed.

"My name is Princess Sakura. I am supposed to be looking for my feathers of memory with my group, but..." Sakura looked around. "I haven't seen them."

"Oh, well of course. You're the only one who's here right now. My name is Cloudrunner." she said, smiling greatly.

"Cloudrunner?" Sakura said, and then she giggled. "It sounds like an Indian name." The other woman smiled and moved her long red hair away from her ear.

"You could say that. Tell me. Why're you here?" Cloudrunner asked.

"Well to be honest, I don't know where I am, plus I was transported here. What is this place?" Sakura said, looking around the area.

"This is the Palace of Clover. As you can see, it could use some repairs." Cloudrunner said. "This palace holds a deathly prophecy about the world's destruction."

"Really? Why would anyone write such a prophecy?" Sakura asked.

"They didn't write it. They were told it by the Gods. Everyone knows them." she said, "I am one of the Ancestors of the Gods."

"An ancestor? Are they others?" Sakura asked, leaning against the pool side.

"Yes there are three of us. There were four, but, well I don't like talking about it." Cloudrunner said, looking up into the sky. Sakura frowned and understood her pain. Then Sakura began thinking back. Thinking about Syaoran and how he is at the moment. Then something hit her memory. That writing before any of this happened.

"Excuse me, Cloudrunner; have you heard anything of Jaydes, or the Temple of Souls?" Cloudrunner stopped in her tracks, and then looked at Sakura.

"Where on Earth did you hear that dreaded name?" she asked. Sakura, now frightened, coward down a bit.

"Well, I read it on a wall in a ruin, before I came here." she lied. If Cloudrunner didn't like the name Jaydes, she wouldn't get anywhere close of mentioning the woman she met at the Palace earlier. "What's wrong with her? Is she bad?" Sakura asked. Cloudrunner didn't answer her, but looked at Sakura with eyes full of wisdom.

"Jaydes was a woman full of power, the power almost as strong as a God. She's used it for the wrong deeds. We we're chosen by the Gods to banish Jaydes, and restrain her power. That's how we lost one, but we didn't lose the battle. We sealed Jaydes cursed power into a pendant, and it will only be released if placed between two other stones, hidden by the Gods. We never say that woman's name, we just say "her"." Cloudrunner explained. Sakura stared at the woman in awe, amazed by what she had just heard. Then Cloudrunner looked at Sakura, and smiled.

"The Temple of Souls that was mentioned in our prophecy." Cloudrunner said. "You know the whole thing don't you?"

"The whole thing? No I only read about her and the temple." Sakura said. Cloudrunner put her head down, letting red locks of hair drip over her face. She walked over to Sakura and sat before her.

"Let me explain, the whole prophecy." Cloudrunner said, telling Sakura the whole prophecy...

The wolf's howl shook his eardrum. He stumbled to get up, and saw a vast deserted land.

"Where am I?" he asked. He looked around, and saw nothing around him. No plant life, just gray rocks and geysers shooting up a strange greenish fume.

"This isn't where I was before." he said, and then he looked around for several minutes.

"Syaoran!" he called out, but he couldn't find his companion. He placed his hands in his pockets, and looked around again.

'Well Kurogane, I guess you're on your own." he said to himself, walking towards the narrow passage between the two mountains. The place was indeed deserted. Nothing was able to be seen except geysers, the gray rocks, and faint green smog. Kurogane stopped walking and closed his eyes.

"Alright, I know what I can see, but what about my other senses?" Kurogane thought to himself. He emptied his mind completely and focused on his senses. The smell was past terrible. It smelt something like sulfur mixed with plenty of radishes and gym socks. The sounds were mainly geysers, but some other sound came into his ear. It sounded like the sound of a horn being blown, or the sound of a cry. Faintly, he heard bubbling. The ground below his feet felt smooth and the mountain side he rested his hand on felt rough and could cut your hand. Then something else came to him. Kurogane felt a strange presence around him. An energy force, stronger than anything he had felt before. Kurogane opened his eyes, and walked towards it. It felt like a raging fire, deep inside his soul, feeding on the surrounding areas. Powerful forces, almost making him lose his balance at times.

"What is that?" Kurogane asked himself, walking closer towards the energy. With every step he took closer towards the energy, the ground below his feet got smoother and hotter. He didn't notice the heat, since he was so far into thought with the energy force. Suddenly, the heat got to him. He snapped out of the daze, but he could still feel the force. Then he noticed his surroundings. Kurogane stood before a large temple, right at the base of a volcano. The stone was coloured a dark thick black, due to lava flow and ash. Inside the temple, the temperature was already getting to him.

"The energy force..." Kurogane said out loud, placing his hand on the hot stone entrance, "It's in here." Kurogane slowly walked forward, and his hand slipped down to his side. The heat got more intense with his every step, but he was too focused on the strong energy. His heart was racing, and sweat was falling from his face. He was un-armed at the moment; therefore if anything came to attack him, he was done for. He passed many chambers, the heat boiling and steam crawling through every crack in the stone. Among the ground was covered with many bodies not rotted away and badly burned. Kurogane still kept his attention on the energy. He reached a room, and strangely enough, it was circular. In the middle of the mass floor, was a giant symbol in the shape of a flame, and the light from above was shining down on it. Around the room, torches were lit, even though they probably weren't necessary. The windows there were mainly shattered, but as he could see, the glass used to be a golden yellow. He looked around some more, and continued his walk into the middle of the room. When he finally was standing upon the fire symbol, a small platform came below his feet, and brought him up to an upper chamber. He continued his walk, still engulfed by the energy force. Passing more windows and broken glass, he didn't notice his surroundings. Outside the windows was an ocean of red bubbling liquid, and the heat was hotter, and the air humid. He came to a stair case, the stone crumbled and the heat making the air thicker. Kurogane started down into the long corridor and rested his hand on the hot stone wall.

"It's down here...the energy..." he said, walking down the spiral stone stairs. The heat got worse with every step he took down the stairs. Sweat dropped from his face, but he was too focused to notice it. He passed what seemed like hundreds of lit torches, and it felt like the stairs went on forever. He reached a chamber at the bottom of the stairs, and before him was something no one has seen before. In the center of two large lit torches was a vermillion crystal with a small flame inside. The crystal was where the energy was coming from. On the wall behind it was some ancient written text, the same from before. As Kurogane stepped closer to the crystal, the flame inside it grew bigger and bigger, and his heart began raging with the flames.

"The Sacred Inferno Crystal will be connected with the Divinity Ice Comet to end the chaos. The Heart of Fire, a strong warrior will be sent to retrieve the Sacred Inferno Crystal, and be challenged by many..." Kurogane recited as he came closer and closer to the crystal. The flames inside it were raging, along with his heart. Kurogane reached his hand out to touch the crystal, and spoke quietly, in a faint whisper.

"The Heart of Fire, a strong warrior will be sent to retrieve the Sacred Inferno Crystal, and be challenged by many..." he repeated. He touched the crystal with the palm of his hand. His eyes were holding the same gaze, staring at the flames rage inside the crystal. His legs locked and he couldn't move them, as the flames inside the crystal matched the flames inside his heart. They raged uncontrollably, and ignited the surrounding area. The flames traveled through-out the entire temple, lighting everything it could to flames, and burning them to ashes. Kurogane stayed put, and the flames never affected him. The crystal's flames returned to its state, raging the same pace as Kurogane's heart. With his other hand, he picked up the crystal, and gazed at the flames inside.

"The Scared Inferno Crystal. The Heart of Fire." Kurogane whispered, holding the crystal before his eyes, watching the flames inside. Kurogane looked up at the ancient text, and it he gazed at it. The flames went over the ancient text, making it Kurogane's own language, so he would be able to read it. He watched the flames re-write the text without even noticing he was watching. Still holding the Scared Inferno Crystal, Kurogane read the text written in flames upon the wall.

"For millennia after millennia, the sun and moon has rose and set..."Kurogane read from the burning flames...

"Am I...am I dreaming?" Fai thought, not opening his eyes. Everything around him felt soft and cold, but a tad bit warm. The breeze was non-existent, and he felt numb. He couldn't feel his hands, nor the rest of his body. He felt something slowly drip onto his face time after time, but he couldn't name it. It felt cold and small, and felt as soft as whatever he was lying in.

"I must be dreaming..." he thought. He couldn't open his eyes, they were somehow being held shut by something. The freezing softness continuing to hold him in place, until he lost almost all consciousness. He was taken out of his cold prison, into the arms of warmth. It felt like fur with little flakes of cold. Fai couldn't do anything about it. His body was numb and he couldn't move it. He seemed to have lost his voice, and could only think everything, not speak. He felt the warm fur wrap around him, and heard footsteps, stepping through the cold ground. He counted the footsteps, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and then they stopped. Fai's body was lifted higher onto something cloaked in fur. Its warm coat felt soft on his hands and warm. It began to move, slowly through the cold. He felt the warm fur against his stomach and his backside. It was the same kind of fur, and it was soft and warm to him.

"I have to be dreaming...I just have to be..." Fai thought to himself, letting his breathing and heart relax. He could eventually feel the winds, the blistering cold winds. They scraped across his ear, with their speckles of cold and little bits of his hair. The wind stopped attacking him, when the warm fur was moved to cover his face.

"I'm dreaming...I'm..." Fai thought, and fell out of his conscience.

When he returned to his conscience, he felt warm, and covered in this soft fur material. There was no wind against his skin, and the ground was kind of soft, but hard to. He moved his hand across the material, feeling the fur brush against his hand.

"I am dreaming...this can't be real..." Fai thought, continuing to run his hand across the fur.

"Are you awake?" a voice said. The voice sounded soft and trueful. Fai squeezed some of the fur in his hand, and tried to speak.

"Are...you..." Fai mumbled out of his lips, cold air coming from his mouth as he spoke.

"You are safe now child." they said, running their hand across Fai's head.

"Am I...dead?" Fai mumbled, feeling tired within the fur.

"Dead? No child, you might have been if I didn't find you, lying in the snow, almost frozen to death." the man said, with a slight chuckle. "Tell me child, what're you doing here?" Fai clenched the fur tighter in his hand, but he still couldn't open his eyes.

"Forgive me child, I forgot. You're probably still frozen in your limbs. Rest child, then we can talk." he said. When the old man noticed Fai squeezing the fur so much, he chuckled again.

"You like the feel of it don't you? Yes it'll keep you mighty warm. It's called Mammoth fur, right off the mammoths the roam here." Fai kept quiet, and felt his body get weaker. The man chuckled again.

"While you are warming up, I'll make you some nice warm soup. Is that ok with you, child?" He walked over to Fai and got on his knees beside him. He rubbed his blonde hair, brushing the snowflakes upon it onto the ground. Fai thought the hand felt nice and reassuring, and knew he could trust this older fellow.

"Yes...that'd...be...nice..." Fai said, but his words were muffled by the fur.

"Alright child, I can do that for you, but you rest." he said, removing his hand from the magician's head. Fai counted the footsteps, as he walked further away from him. One, two, three, four, and then Fai relaxed his body, and fell asleep. The older man came back, and noticed Fai sleeping. He chuckled and rubbed his head.

"Poor child, he could have frozen to death." The older man smiled, and looked at a giant mammoth, sitting outside not far from the little cave. "Thank you for finding him." He smiled greatly, and added more wood to the small fire. He held a pot over it, and added a few things from his pouch. Slowly, the scent of meat and lemon pepper filled the small cave.

"Soup is ready child." he said smiling. Fai, hearing the man's voice was woken up again. He heard the fire crackling and he smelted the scents. Slowly he sat up, forcing his body to move. When he was sitting upright, he slowly opened his eyes. Before him he saw the old man, wearing a robe made of the exact same fur, mammoth fur, and before him a small fire. Outside he could see the snow covered valleys through the cave entrance. Fai was lying on a blanket made of mammoth fur, and covered by one too. The older man smiled and poured some of the soup into two bowls.

"Come child, you don't want it to get cold." he said, holding out Fai's dish. The blonde wizard looked at the man, and managed to crawl over to him, taking the bowl with one hand. Fai took a small sip of the soup, and let the warm liquid swish inside his mouth. The older man smiled and looked at him.

"Are you alright now child? Don't be afraid to speak. If I haven't told you yet child, my name is Snowhorn, one of the ancient ancestors of the Gods." Fai looked up, holding the soup bowl with two hands, and managed to speak clearly, and effiecntly.

"Thank you Snowhorn, my name is Fai Flowright." The older man smiled and closed his eyes.

"Now that we know each other, please tell me what you were doing out in this cold weather without the proper clothing." Fai stayed quiet, and then took another sip of his soup.

"Well to be honest, I'm not sure. You see I'm traveling with three others, and it appears we got separated. We're looking for feathers and all, but we came across this old temple. Then we were warped to a palace, and now, I'm here." Fai explained. In his mind, he was still wondering where the others may be, or have gone off to. Snowhorn rubbed his hand on his head.

"Well I assure you child, when I found you, there was no one else there. Your friends are probably elsewhere."

"You're right. I hope they're all right." Fai said, taking another sip.

"Now, that I know why you are here..." Snowhorn fell silent. He was staring at Fai deeply.

"Is something the matter?" Fai asked, feeling a tad nervous about how Snowhorn was looking at him.

"It's nothing. It's just your eyes. They're really blue, like ice." he said, and then he spoke again. "Do you know magic?" Fai fell silent, and then smiled a gentle smile.

"Well yes, but I refuse to use it. Why?" Snowhorn looked at Fai, and set his own bowl down.

"I believe my thoughts were correct. The prophecy has begun. You must be the Eyes of Ice, sent to retrieve the Divinity Ice Comet." Fai looked at him, more confused than ever.

"What?" Fai recalled back to his memories, on anything that might be a prophecy. Then he remembered what he read in the old ruin from before.

"Do you mean something like, the Sacred Inferno Crystal and Divinity Ice Comet will connect, but the destruction will continue. To stop the chaos, a bond must be created between Fire and Ice, a bond stronger than any danger?" Fai recited. Fai knew he didn't tell Snowhorn the ending, just in case he was wrong, but the old man looked at him.

"You know the ending child?" he said. Fai didn't answer him, but gave him a blank look, showing he was lost. Snowhorn got up and sat before Fai.

"Let me unravel the truth to you child." he said, beginning to fill in the empty spaces in Fai's mind...

The wind swirled by as Earthwalker finished telling Syaoran the legend.

"And you're serious, it's happening now?" Syaoran asked, sitting up and letting his tone sound more serious. Earthwalker nodded, but continued talking.

"The only thing that confuses me is the ones that are chosen to retrieve the artifacts. I've never heard or seen anyone of the sort." Syaoran had to agree with Earthwalker on that one. Syaoran didn't know what that part meant.

"Can I see the temple? The one you spoke of earlier?" Syaoran asked.

"Well youngling, why would you want to?" Earthwalker asked, with a slight chuckle in his voice. "There's really nothing inside there, I figure."

"I want to see the writings and discover what the ancients have left behind." Syaoran said, letting his acrhioligoist side take over him. Earthwalker sighed heavily, and rose to his feet. He walked out of the little stone structure they were in, and pointed towards an older stone stronghold.

"Inside there is the temple, The Temple of Fate. Inside there, like I said before, just the written text of the Gods. Also as I've heard are many traps and puzzles. Are you sure you still wish to enter?" Earthwalker asked. Syaoran was really serious when he faced him and nodded. "If that is your decision, head on in, but be careful child. If you make it back out, I have something for you to have." Earthwalker returned to the inside of his home and Syaoran approached the temple.

"I hope I can find something of Sakura or the others in here. Along with maybe one of her feathers." Syaoran thought to himself, stopping at the entrance of the temple. It was covered in large cloaks of moss, and smelted of old rain water. Syaoran clenched his fist, and walked inside the stone structure.

"I have to remember that all I have in defense is my feet and fists." Syaoran thought, realizing his sword gone. He continued walking further in, the smell of water taking over his nostrils. The further he walked down the temple halls, the darker it became. He didn't see a torch anywhere in sight, so he had to constantly touch the walls to find his way around. When he touched them, he didn't feel hard stone, but soft moss. He ran his hand across the soft moss and continued moving his feet forward, When his hand was no longer touching the wall, he let it fall to his side, and closed his eyes.

"Alright, time to see if I can sense anything." Syaoran thought. In front of him was a small feeling of wind gust. He figured that might be a passage way on-ward. Syaoran opened his eyes, and continued walking forward. He reached out beside him, and felt another wall of moss. He kept his hand on it as he walked forward.

"How long are these corridors and halls?" Syaoran thought to himself. With every step he took, he felt his elevation drop. He could tell by the way the air around him smelt. It was getting moister. He continued his walk on forward, his hand against the wall, and his feet hitting the floor.

"Something isn't right." Syaoran thought. As he proceeded forward, a small light shined through the darkness. Syaoran, keeping his same pace, came closer to the small light. He reached the only lit corridor, and the air was very moist. Moss draped the walls with green and a small opening in the ceiling, was making the light shine in. Before him was a strange alter, and upon it, a veil of water, so it seemed. Syaoran slowly walked toward it, and stood before it. He looked up at the wall behind the alter to see the ancient text from before. The symbols were arranged differently, so he knew it said something different than before. Since he has never studied that text that well, he couldn't read it. He looked back down at the veil of water, and looked carefully at the bottle. The glass bottle it was held in was perfectly clear, not a speck of dust to be seen. The handle was untouched, and it was held shut by a small crystal clear top, like a cork, just glass.

"This bottle means something, I know it." Syaoran said, reaching out to grab the tiny veil. He placed his finger tip on the handle, then his hand lifted away, for the ground had fell from underneath his feet...

"With a kiss..."Cloudrunner finished. Sakura was amazed by the woman's words. She wiped her eyes, and slowly stepped out of the pool of water.

"That's a shocking legend." Sakura said, drying off with a soft velvet towel. Cloudrunner nodded, not letting a word escape her mouth.

"I'm still wondering what else it is. I never knew anyone with such quality as it required in the legend, I just hope it doesn't happen." she said, giving Sakura a large kimono. Sakura smiled at Cloudrunner, and put the kimono on.

"Thank you for everything. I really appreciate it." Sakura said, brushing the wrinkles off her clothing. Once again Cloudrunner didn't speak, but stared off towards the large sky. Sakura looked up at it to, seeing its colours pink and white. The wind was calm, and barely heard, and the aroma soft lavender.

"Is something bothering you Cloudrunner?" Sakura asked, taking notice on her silence. With a soft sigh, the older woman faced Sakura.

"Nothing child, but you need to rest." she said, but Sakura spoke out of turn.

"No! Something is wrong with you!" she said, clenching her fist. Cloudrunner's eyes widened, and then she smiled.

"You think so child?" she said, taking a seat before Sakura.

"Yes indeed. I can tell by the way your acting, and your face expressions. Please don't hide your feelings from me, it worries me." she said, her voice softening from start to end. Cloudrunner looked at Princess Sakura, and sighed again.

"Indeed, something is bothering me child. The prophecy, I know it's coming true. Stored away deep within the riches of this fortress, is a legendary sword. None of my people who were sent to retrieve it returned, but I believe you might be able to." Cloudrunner said, looking deep into Sakura's eyes.

"Me?" she said, covering her mouth, "Cloudrunner are you sure?" The older woman smiled greatly and nodded.

"You're the only one now. I'll have the maidens take you there, and I wish you the best of my luck." Two women walked into the courtyard area, and guided Sakura to her next destination. Cloudrunner watched her leave and spoke quietly under her breath, "Poor soul, but it's for my master."

The two ladies brought Sakura to a huge cave entrance, located near the back entrance of the Fortress.

"Before you is the Cave of Ordeals." one woman said, her voice sounding like the wind.

"Inside, if you live, you'll find the sword left here by the ancients. Good luck, young child." the other woman said, leaving Sakura, at the cave entrance alone. The princess stood at her spot for a few minutes before entering. She was running through her thoughts.

"I have to do this, for Syaoran-kun, and Fai-san, and Kurogane-san." she thought. Slowly she lifted her left foot, and took one step into the dark cave.

"I will help Syaoran-kun." she thought, bringing a smile to her face, walking deeper into the Cave of Ordeals. Luckily for Sakura, the cave was lit with torches the further she went down. Upon the walls were writings from the people from before. The messages upon the wall, well Sakura couldn't read them, since she didn't speak, nor read their language.

"This place gives me that really gloomy feeling." Sakura said out loud. The only sounds that could be heard were the dripping of water into puddles, her footsteps, and the fire flickering off the torches. The ground below her soft cloth shoes felt like old wet mud, probably because it is wet mud. Every so often, she'd step on something hard, and she say ouch, and it'd echo off the walls. She continued her walk, and kept wondering.

"Why hasn't anyone been able to come out alive? This place isn't that challenging." After a long walk down those halls, she reached a bigger corridor. The walls were aligned with torches, and smack dab in the middle, was a giant well. Once again, writing was all over the walls, but she couldn't read it.

"A well?" she thought, walking closer to it. She put her hands gently on the side, and leaned over the side. Inside the well, there was no water, but pitch black darkness.

"I can't see anything down there..." she grumbled, leaning back up. She thought about it, and suggested to herself she took a wrong turn. She turned around to head back, but before her stood a monstrous being. Its giant fangs were right before princess Sakura. She screamed loudly, and took a large step backwards, losing her balance, and falling down the well. She screamed loudly, falling faster and faster with every second that passed.

"Syaoran!" she screamed as she fell further into the darkness of the giant well. She fell farther and farther down the dark well, screaming at the top of her lungs, awaiting her deathly splat. She closed her eyes tightly, and tried to think of something nice before she died, but it wasn't working to well. Without her knowing, her body glowed a bright pink aura, and her falling speed was decreased to almost a complete stop. She slowly started lowering herself gently down to the ground. When Sakura took notice of the difference in speed, she opened her eyes, amazed by the aura around her. Her feet touched the ground shortly after the aura faded. It was still completely dark, so she couldn't see anything.

"I can't see anything." she groaned, moving her hand before her. She couldn't feel anything before her, so she walked a tad bit forward.

"Sakura..." a voice whispered out of the darkness. Out of shock, the princess turned around.

"Who's there?" she shouted. When all she received for a reply was her own echo, she looked around the room. "Hello?" she shouted, but only her echo trailed into her ear. She stood still for a while, and then continued her search around the darkness.

"Over here, Sakura..." the voice spoke again. Sakura, refused to shout, but gazed in the direction the voice came from. From the darkness, a small pink glowing speck was floating, revealing a pathway out of the darkness. Sakura gazed deep at the speck, but followed it, almost hypnotized. The small pink speck lead her down a large corridor filled with gold and lost treasures. Diamonds, rubies, sapphires, all kinds of treasure as far as the eye could see, but the princess never noticed any of it, just followed the speck. She reached the end of the hallway, and before her was a large stone door with a symbol upon it. Sakura blinked a few times, and the pink speck had disappeared. She looked at the door, and gasped.

"Have I...seen that before?" she asked herself confused. Upon the door, was a symbol representing a cloud. She tried recalling a spot in her memory where she might have seen it before, but nothing occurred to her. She placed her hand upon the old ruin, tracing the pattern with her index finger.

"What do I do?" she asked herself, pulling her hand away from it.

"Use your power Sakura..." the voice said. Sakura had no idea where the speck was, or what it was talking about.

"But, what power? I'm just a princess..." she said, but then she clenched her fist. "No, I'm not just a lousy girl anymore. I'm gonna help Syaoran, and the others. The only one here is me, and I'll do it. On my own!" She closed her eyes, and held her fist tighter. "I'll do it on my own!" she shouted. Her voice echoed through the corridor, and the place began to shake. Sakura didn't move, even though the area around was crumbling down. The door with the cloud symbol on it was slowly opening, but the rumbling around her increased. The princess had locked her feet in place, and waited for the door to open. Her eyes were filled with determation, and anger. She had all her feelings put into her quest. Her thoughts and heart were focused for what was ahead. The door opened all the way, and Sakura walked in, normal pace. Her mind still set she walked on further into the corridor. Around her, there was no light, but she continued on. She felt wind brushing against her legs and arms, and it blowed her hair as she walked. At the end of the large tunnel was a large light. Sakura still focused continued on, fist clenched and heart and mind dedicated.

The sky was a bright pink where she left the tunnel. The wind was fiercer and her mind was still set. She had walked out of the tunnel and before her was a slim path, that hung out over the open sky below. At the end of the large skinny path was an alter. On the alter rested something covered in a large cloth. Sakura unclenched her fist and looked around her.

"Wow, I made it through the cave, but..." she looked at the altar at the end of the path. At first she was frightened to walk the path, but she remembered her motivation. She put on a straight face, and walked down the rail-less path, towards the altar. Before the object that lay on the altar, was the small pink speck from before.

"Sakura, Sakura! Hurry, hurry!" it said. Sakura kept her same pace, fearing that if she ran, she'd lose her balance. She felt the wind gust by her, but luckily it wasn't strong enough to blow her over. She reached the altar, and looked at the pink speck, and the other object.

"Princess Princess!" the pink speck said, jumping up and down, now sounding a lot more nervous. "Quickly, quickly!" Sakura didn't notice the big rush but she reached out for the cloth around it. She grabbed the green ties around the cloth, and pulled them lose.

"Hurry hurry!" the pink speck said, moving up and down faster. Sakura pulled the cloth off, and saw herself staring back at her. The cloth revealed a blade, shining perfectly like a mirror. The hilt was made of gold and silver, and had a design of a dragon with vines wrapped around its tail.

"Quickly quickly!" the pink speck continued saying. Sakura was dazed by the sword, and ignored the pink speck. She reached her hand out to touch the blade, and slowly wrapped her fingers around the beautiful hilt. She lifted the sword with ease, but the pink speck continuing shouting.

"Princess turn around! Turn around!" it shouted. With the sword still held in Sakura's hand, she turned around quickly, her eyes full of a little fear. She imagined what was behind her. The monster from before, or had the path fallen so she couldn't get back. As the hair blew out from her face, she saw the figure standing before her, its long red hair blowing in the now soft breeze. It was Cloudrunner...

The flames slowly extinguish from the walls around him, and returned into the small crystal he held in his hands. Inside the crystal, the flames danced to the beating of the warrior's heart. Kurogane looked around him once more, realizing what the flames had devoured. He kept his guard up, holding the crystal tighter in his hand. He looked straight ahead, and began walking out of the large corridor. The stairs were long, just like before, but this time, it didn't take him as long. The crystal was safely in his hands, the flames inside, keeping their steady pace. No other thoughts came to his mind, only the flames and what he previously had read. Walking down the corridors away from the chamber, everything was gone, expect the stone. The flames had destroyed everything, and burned anything it could. The only living thing in the entire corridor was Kurogane himself.

"I still have no idea what's going on," Kurogane thought to himself, "But that prophecy mentioned me, and this crystal." He kept walking forward, but he looked down at the crystal. The dancing flames didn't respond to his thoughts, but he knew he was wielding a great power. He began recalling his thoughts. The Heart of Fire will be challenged by many. This means fighting. Kurogane let a small smile creep on his face, and he began walking a tad bit faster, his smile on his face.

Kurogane started to take some notice about his surroundings. Not only was everything burned to ashes or charred, but he didn't remember walking down this way towards the chamber. He slowed down his pace a bit, taking in his new surroundings.

"I don't recall seeing these before." he said, walking past large windows now showing the large molten crater. He almost jumped seeing the spitting lava right outside the window. He trembled a little bit, noticing how close he was to burning to death, but not a single drop of sweat fell from him. The heat wasn't affecting him.

"I've got to get out of here fast!" he said, beginning to run. He ran pasted many windows opening to the lava pool, but he didn't stop. He reached a split in the hall, one way right, and the other left. Once again, he never recalled seeing this before, and bolted off towards the left. The corridor got darker and darker the farther he went. His heart was beating fast, rushing blood to his legs so he can run faster. He stopped running, sensing a large wall before him.

"Damn it!" he shouted, running back towards the split in the hall from before, but he was stopped. The way he came from, was blocked by another wall. He took a few steps back, into the center of the room.

"Damn, trapped." he said, keeping his voice low. He looked down at the crystal, its flames dancing at a faster pace. It was the only light in the corridor, so it wasn't completely dark. He looked around, but didn't notice anything that could get him out of this mess. That was until he looked up. Upon the ceiling was a large door, half way open, and a bright shine of light peered through it. The walls were too far apart to wall jump off of, and he certainly couldn't climb flat rock. He growled quietly and stomped his foot. Along with his anger, flames swirled out of the crystal, and began dancing around Kurogane. The flames created a double helix around him, and continued moving upward, into a spiral towards the top. Kurogane, now taking notice of the fire spiral, he began floating up along with the spiral.

"What?" he thought, being magically lifted up towards the ceiling. When he pasted the flames, they slowly danced back into the crystal, and returned to its normal dance. When the spiral lead him out of the room, he was standing on solid ground. The rest of the flames returned to the crystal, and Kurogane stood dumbfounded. Around him was a room brightly lit with torches and light from the lava pool. The windows were still intact with the stone. The room had no exit or another entry since the door below him had closed, and blended to well with the floor. The room was empty, but no dust was collecting anywhere. The flames in the crystal began a different dance. A very fast dance, but very out of tune. It showed fear.

"Well done, you must be the Heart of Fire." a voice said, sounding far away, and echoed off the walls. Kurogane was frozen in his spot, unable to move, or speak for that matter. From the top of the corridor, a spirit gently drifted down to stand before him. Its hair was long and the color of platinum. Its eyes were both red and green. The spirit stood before Kurogane, and smiled.

"I see you're scared young warrior. Let me introduce myself. I'm Ashheart." he said, staring deep into Kurogane's eyes. His stare was very faint, since he was only a spirit, but had a fiery stare. Ashheart tilted his head to one side and chuckled.

"You're probably wondering how I know you're the Heart of Fire? Simple, you're wielding the Sacred Inferno Crystal, which will only let the Heart of Fire hold. Let me explain myself a little more. I'm an Ancestor of the Gods, the ones who wrote the prophecy you read. As you've read, you'll be challenged by many. One of those challenges is me." he said, adding a small chuckle in the end.

"Wait." Kurogane managed to say after Ashheart's chuckle. "How're you just a spirit?" Ashheart looked at him, and chuckled.

"I was long ago killed, by Jaydes, the evil woman which I'm never supposed to speak of, but enough of that. Now your test. If you truly are the Heart of Fire they speak of in the prophecy, you'll be able to pass my test." he said. Ashheart pointed his finger forward, and a large line of light came out and spiraled before Kurogane.

"You're opponent in which you'll be fighting will determine if you are worthy of the Crystal." he said, putting his hand down by his side. Kurogane readied himself, for a battle. He placed his hand on his side, but then remembered he didn't have his sword. He then clenched his fist and waited for his challenge. The light stopped spiraling, and his opponent stood before him. The flames inside the crystal were dancing quickly, but now, they calmed and went back to dancing fear. Kurogane's eyes shot and he stared at his opponent before him. He stumbled on his words, and stared at the person before him.

"Mother..."

"And that my boy, is how the legend ends." Snowhorn said, taking another sip from his bowl of soup. Fai sat quietly, thinking back on everything the man said. He was shocked at the one point he heard, but he didn't dare think about it again.

"So...when is it supposed to start?" Fai asked him, finally able to speak again. Snowhorn didn't reply, just looked at the blonde wizard.

"Not sure my boy, not too sure." The older man rose to his feet, and grabbed his huge mammoth fur jacket. "I have to leave child." he said, slipping it on over his arms and torso. "Out into the cold weather. If you must know, I have to see if I can catch some fish, or maybe some other things."

"Fish? Isn't the place frozen?" Fai asked, before Snowhorn could continue. He smiled.

"There is a flowing stream here, and everyone knows, moving water doesn't freeze. I'll be back in, oh maybe five days. The river is a far ways from here, plus I'm an old man." Snowhorn walked past the main entrance, and looked back at Fai. "Take care child. If I were you, I wouldn't leave. It's mighty cold out here, unless you are prepared with the right clothing." With those words, the old man left the cave, and Fai stayed seated.

"About time." he thought, looking around. The fire was still flickering, and keeping the inside warm, but Fai felt cold inside. He was thinking of the prophecy, and remembered what Snowhorn said.

"The Eyes of Ice, a young mage..." Fai remembered Snowhorn saying those words, and they repeated over and over in his head. Fai indeed was a mage, and he recalled back at the temple, the voice he had heard.

"I guess there is no way out of this, is there?" Fai said out loud. He rose to his feet, and grabbed one of the large mammoth coats. He slipped the heavy fur over his body, covering him completely in warmth. Without a second of hesitation, Fai ran out into the cold weather. Immediately, the blistering cold wind scraped his cheeks, and blowed fiercely to attack his skin. He held the fur tighter around him, and ran further into the cold.

"I have to get out of here, and do something about the prophecy." he thought to himself, running faster through the snow. From time to time, the wind would blow so roughly, it made its way into the fur coat, and touched his skin. It annoyed him, but he had to venture on. Faintly, in his mind, he could feel something. Something strong was pulsing through him. It felt as if, he was being watched, and gave shivers up his neck. He had to find out what it was, no matter what the cost may be.

Fai was running through the snow, until he reached a rather large obstacle. He stood on a bank, and before his feet, a small stream was flowing, and on the other side of that, more land he would need to run through. Fai looked down at the river, and already felt goose bumps.

"There is no way I'll be able to move through that stream with this coat of fur." Fai thought, so he made a decision. Slowly, he slipped the fur coat off of his body, letting the piecering wind hit his light-weight clothing. Without another second being wasted, he took some steps back, and jumped. His legs were long, and just long enough. He made it across the river, still freezing due to the wind. He landed hard into the snow, its flakes covering his hair and face. He rose to his feet, and stared ahead of him. More land to cover, more open spaces to run, more wind and snow to freeze him. He clenched his fist, and started running again, the cold affecting him more and more.

The wind hadn't calmed since he crossed that stream. It was even fiercer. The snow had gotten deeper, almost up to his knee caps, and it was getting harder to walk in.

"I can't give up now!" he thought to himself, still managing to move his feet through the snow. "I must keep going!" The feelings from before hadn't left his mind. Deep down, he still felt that someone was staring at him, and it sent him chills. He gritted his teeth, and moved further more into the snow. It must have been getting dark, since it was getting colder and the wind was calming down a little, but not much. He had troubles keeping his eyes open. The tears and sweat of his hard work had frozen, making it harder to see. His body was beginning to feel numb inside.

"No, I must keep going!" Fai thought, moving further into the wind and snow. He lifted his head slightly, and noticed a small cave, much smaller than the one he was running from.

"I must get inside!" he thought, walking towards it. The snow was building up more and more, and the wind was blowing faster. A blizzard was coming. Fai tried moving to the cave, as quickly as possible, before he was caught inside the snow storm. The wind was howling faster, getting ready for its storm to begin.

"Come on, almost there, come on!" Fai thought to himself. The wind went silent, and quickly rose back to its loud roar, blowing ice and snow everywhere. Fai quickly jumped from his position, and landed inside the cave, falling hard on the stone ground. He looked over his shoulder, and watched the snow and ice dance around outside. He made it inside, before the blizzard could take him.

"That was close..." Fai thought to himself, sitting on his knees, and brushing the snow off of himself. Once he completed brushing himself off, he took notice of his surroundings. The cave was dark; expect a bright glow emerging from the deep darkness. The feeling from before got stronger. That presence of someone staring into your neck, watching your every move. Fai stood up right, and walked closer towards the light, the area around him getting brighter. The glow was a bright blue, and sent chills down his spine often. The ground below his feet was caped in ice, and the walls clothed in frost and ice. The bitter cold didn't seem to bother him, since he was so focused on the glow and the feelings. The glow suddenly began getting dimmer, the closer he came to the exit of the cave. One last step and he wasn't on the ice from inside the cave, but deep thick snow.

The wind was blowing rather calmly, sending snowflakes dancing around in the sky. He was in a valley of snow, possibly once a meadow. Frost covered the pine trees around the area, and snow blanketed the ground. The glow from before was shining down from a high cliff, about twenty foot steps away from him.

"So, that's what is watching me..." Fai said out loud, beginning to step closer to the base of the cliff. He was walking rather slowly, leaving a long trail of his tracks in the snow behind him. His eyes were glued to the glow from on top of the cliff. The feeling of someone watching him, increased as he came closer to it, and he had chills running through his body. The wind was brushing snowflakes passed his face, and they seemed to be dancing around him. After four more steps, he was standing before the base of the large cliff.

"It's through here, I can feel it." he said, lifting his hand to touch the cliff before him. He placed his palm against the cold surface, leaving a hand print in the snow on the cliff. His hair slowly flowing a different pace than the wind, and his eyes turned almost blue, his pupils fading. Slowly he began moving his hand through the snow, tracing strange symbols on the cliff side. In his state of mind, he had no idea what he was doing. It was if his body was moving on its own. When he finished, he removed his hand of the cold surface, and stared at the symbol he had traced. At first it looked like his tattoo he had, but that was only part of it. The other symbol was rather too difficult to describe. Fai lifted up both hands, and pressed his palms into the snow again. The cold chills surrounded him, and slowly, his body began to freeze into ice. The snow around him was still dancing in his face, and the ice slowly pulled him closer to the cliff wall. His eyes were still in their previous state, and his thoughts off on their own.

"What is this?" Fai finally spoke. His hand slowly seeped through the cliff wall, along with the rest of his body. He was inside the cliff, which was a giant chamber, made of ice and frost. There was no wind in this chamber, but it was slippery. Fai had managed to get his thoughts in order again, and his pupils returned to his eyes. Before him stood two large pillars made of ice and in between them, a large stair case almost made of ice. Fai thought it would be hard to walk in this chamber, but he found in rather easy. He was walking rather slowly, as he approached the stairs.

"That magic, I can feel it." Fai said out loud, his voice trailing towards the ice walls. The presence was still lingering about him. The cold stares from before were not that frightening, but rather soothing. His body still had chills, but he ignored them. He placed his left foot on the first stair, and when he did, it made a lovely chiming sound that echoed through the ice chamber. When he lifted his right foot onto the step, it chimed the same note. He lifted his left foot onto the second step, and a new note was chimed through the ice. He slowly began making his way up the steps, the sound of the chimes echoing around him. Fai didn't dare look down, for he feared he might lose his balance and fall on the hard ice floor below him.

Fai was trying to count the steps as he transcended up them, but he lost count at thirty-six. The sound of the chimes seemed to be rising in pitch along with the step. He thought maybe it would go to the highest note, then he'd be at the top, or he actually hoped that was the case. He placed his foot on the next step, but he stopped. It chimed a note, lower than the one before. This made him stop in his tracks for a couple seconds. He stared down at his feet, and noticed it was brighter than any other step. It gleamed a bright blue glow.

"Have they been lighting up since I started walking up them?" he said out loud. He placed his other foot on the same step, let it chime the same note and continued on up. As he continued walking up the steps, they chimed in a rather melodic way. He tried wondering if it was a song he had heard, or just his imagination. He closed his eyes as he continued up on the steps. The chimes rang in his ears, letting their musical melody fill his thoughts. In a deep thought of his mind, he could have sworn he heard a woman singing along with the ringing of the chimes...

A loud splash echoed through the small cave area, as Syaoran hit the pool of water below. The water was warmer than he expected, but it had moss and allegie floating about it. Syaoran pulled himself together, and swam up to the surface. As he lifted his head above the water, he took a large breath of air. Treading water, he gazed up and saw the hole he had fallen through. The ceiling above him had a light peering through, down on him, almost laughing at him. Around him, the water rippled, and sounded very peaceful. Syaoran would have been taken by the beauty, and stayed awhile, but he was too focused on getting out of the pool, and back on his feet. There was no way to get up to the upper level again, so he looked around him. It was a small enclosed cave, and there was no piece of land he could swim to. He had to go underwater. Syaoran sighed heavily, took a deep breath, and dove under the water.

The water played with his hair, and it was rather easy to see underneath, even without his goggles on. Around the seaweed below was swaying from side to side, as if waving at him. Coral was growing around them, but they looked so dull without the sun's light. The sand was a mucky gray color, due to lack of sun. Syaoran frowned, and imagined how beautiful it might be with some light. He glanced around him, and saw a small cave behind the seaweed.

"That's my route out of here!" Syaoran thought, swimming towards it calmly. In one sector of his mind, he wanted to stay here, but in the other sector, he needed to get out. Maybe the beauty of the coral and undersea life here, is what brought people to their death, he had thought. He was swimming through the small cave, looking for anything that might lead him out. The small cave twisted and turned, and just kept going. He was looking up and down, left and right, but it continued.

"I better find a spot out of here fast." he thought, realizing he was running out of air. He was only human, he didn't have super lungs. He started kicking faster, and swam faster, hoping he might get out of the cave faster, but it continued twisting around and around. He came to a corner that seemed a little different. Seaweed was growing out of the ground, and swaying, covering his next path. Syaoran grunted quietly, and began pushing himself through the seaweed. He swam passed all the green swaying around him, sometimes almost into a wall, but he reacted quickly. He was running short of breath again. He was moving so quickly, and if he continued, he would need air for sure. He moved one more piece of seaweed, and a large beam of sunlight blinded him. He looked up, and saw the open sky through rippling waters. A smile creped to his face, and he began swimming upward, but was caught. He looked down at his foot, and it was now tangled in seaweed. He tugged and tugged at it, but it wouldn't let go of his foot. He gritted his teeth, and pulled harder. Nothing.

"Come on let go!" Syaoran thought. Just a few more seconds, and his lungs were about to give out. Without thinking, he grabbed the seaweed at the base and yanked, pulling it out of the sand. With the seaweed still wrapped around his leg, he quickly swam up to the top. As his head came up above the water surface, and he made the loudest gasp for air he had ever made.

"That was close," he said out loud, catching his breath between words. He looked around himself, and saw more and more water, but he didn't have to swim underneath it this time. On one far end, he saw a beach, with palm trees on it here and there. That was on the right. On the left, he saw another beach, which leads into a cave, then the cave into darkness. Syaoran told himself he wouldn't enter that cave. He was through with caves for now. Then he looked next to him. A large temple sat, half way submerged by the water. A ramp led up to one entrance, but there was another entrance. Above the other door, was a large statue, shaped like a woman.

"That looks like..." Syaoran said, swimming closer to the temple. He got up on the ramp and ran closer to the second entrance. He got a closer look at the statue and bit his lip. He was right. His thoughts didn't fail him. The statue was indeed the same kinds he has seen in the palace beforehand. The exact same woman from before.

"Why is this statue everywhere I go?" he thought out loud. He placed his hand on the statue, and examined it. The stone it was made out of was somehow a blue color. Normally rocks are not blue, but brown and gray. He put his hand back at his side, and walked away from the statue, and towards the entrance. He looked at the entrance walls, and then realized the whole temple was made of this weird blue stone. Inside the temple he saw two holders. They stood apart from one another, at the top of a flight of stairs, which curved towards their own directions, and left an open space in the middle. On each stair case up to each alter was a carpet, a different color than the other. One red, the other blue. Syaoran stared at the strange set-up of the room, and rubbed his hand on the railing of the stairs with the red carpet.

"What are these for?" he wondered to himself, walking away from them, towards the center of them. In the middle of the C-shaped stair case, was yet, another alter. Around it was ancient text, and in the middle, a small spot made to have something resting in it perfectly still. Syaoran placed his hand in the indentation, and slipped it out.

"Is this some kind of offering spot?" he said out loud, as if some random voice would answer his question. No answer came to him, so he over-looked the entire place around once more. He shrugged his shoulders, and walked out of the strange temple. Then he stopped, and remembered that weird vile of water he was reaching for. Was it that important to him, or could he go without it? Or maybe, would it help him at all? Well it was too late now. There was no way he would be able to get back to it anyway. For all Earthwalker can assume, was that he's dead. Syaoran looked off at the large open waters off the edge of the temple. He must have been at an ocean. He let his gaze trail off to the left, which that cave was at. Maybe it might have so information he might need, or something that might tell him some secrets. Even though he didn't like the thought that much either, he jumped into the water and swam towards it.

"I hope this is worth my time." Syaoran said making sure the salt water didn't go in his mouth as he spoke. He crawled up the sand beach that sat before the cave. He shook off whatever water he could, and stared at it. He took a deep breath, and looked it over.

"Here we go again." he said, kind of annoyed, and headed into the darkness of the cave. The ground below his feet was still soft, and the air was a bit moist, due to the ocean water not far from it. He turned a corner, and saw a torch lighting up the area, where a small pool of water was, and a large shaped glass panel.

"What?" Syaoran said, running through the small pool of water, towards the panel. How often does a person see a glass panel, almost like a window, in the sand. Yeah I thought so too. Syaoran got on his knees, and began brushing some of the sand off the glass. The glass had weird markings about it, and a small gold-ish glow to it. There was nothing on the other side of the glass, just that golden light.

"This is amazing!" he said out loud, digging up some sand around it. He had to get a better look at it, maybe see if it was just glass lying on the ground, or maybe a window. He brushed away enough sand, to see what the glass was connected to. Steel, making it a nice frame, like a window. Syaoran was past pleased with himself. This was his greatest discovery yet. It's just too bad for him, Sakura and the gang wasn't around to see his great findings. There was nothing below the steel plating, just more and more sand. Syaoran looked it over and tried to figure out why this glass panel was here, in a cave, in sand? He thought for many minutes, and then snapped his fingers. Maybe, just maybe it was an elevator like the one in the palace from before. He hesitated, and eventually, placed his feet on the panel.

"Now, how did Sakura get it to rise?" Syaoran said out loud. He stood there, surprised the glass didn't break below him. The golden light was shining around him, not enough to blind him though. Syaoran closed his eyes, and focused his thoughts on going up. Maybe that's how she did it. He didn't know, or remember if he did. He thought hard and hard, and then it reacted. Little sparks of golden light surrounded him, and he slowly turned into golden light. His body vanished along with the sparks, and he was gone...

"Oh it's only you Cloudrunner." Sakura said, resting her hand that held the sword done to her side. The princess was relieved it wasn't anything else she thought it might have been, but that tiny speck kept yelling.

"Run princess run!" it continued shouting, but Sakura stayed put.

"I see you found the blade child. I see you found what I sent you for." Cloudrunner said, putting a smile on her face. Sakura nodded and looked at the blade.

"Yes indeed I did." the princess smiled big, "And I survived!" Cloudrunner chuckled lightly, and her smile changed her mood, even though Sakura didn't notice it.

"That's a good thing. I was getting tired of all the others dying before this point. There was only one other person who came this far." Cloudrunner said, and her smirk grew. "Her name was Cloudrunner." Sakura opened her eyes, and her smile faded away. Wasn't she talking to Cloudrunner? Sakura looked up at the woman with red hair, their smile still lingering on her face.

"Aren't you Cloudrunner?" Sakura asked, pointing her free hand at her. The red-haired woman chuckled again, and opened her eyes. They weren't the same eyes from before. They were more of a demon's. He skin began bubbling, and her beautiful features started to turn ugly. She was shape-shifting. Her hands grew larger, and claws emerged from her nails. She got taller, and bigger, the arms and legs bulky. The claws had to be at least six yards long, and Sakura was surprised this, creature, could stand on that slim walkway. It's used to be luscious red hair, turned into a tattered mane, and its fangs grew to the size of its claws.

"What...are you?" Sakura screamed, dropping the sword onto the ground beside her. Cloudrunner, no, the beast looked at the princess, and steam flared from its nostrils. Then Sakura screamed louder. It was the same beast from before, that made her fall down the well.

"This is my true form. I am, Oblivion!" its voice roared through the fortress. Sakura had trouble keeping her balance from the rumbling, and almost fell of the ledge. There was no way around it, she was trapped already.

"Princess Princess!" the speck screamed from behind her, "The sword the sword!" Sakura looked down at her feet, and grabbed the blade. She looked at her reflection in the blade, then back at the speck.

"I don't know how to fight with swords." she screamed back at it. The beast lifted one of its paws, and swung at Sakura, hitting her clean off the ledge, falling into the open sky below, and the sword still in her hand. The large beast stared down at her as she screamed and fell further away from it. The pink speck quickly followed Sakura, and began yelling in her ear.

"Princess Princess!" it shouted, swirling around her rapidly. Quickly, Sakura's body emitted a pink aura, just like before. Her falling came to a complete stop, and she began floating upwards. Sakura looked around her, again, and saw the pink speck at her shoulder.

"I'll help you, it's my job." the speck said. Sakura was dumbfounded first, but caught on quickly. She clenched the sword in her hand, and started moving through air, towards the beast.

"I guess, the only way out of this mess, it to kill that wretched beast." Sakura said, trying to talk to the pink speck.

"Yes yes. That's the only way." the speck said. Sakura gritted her teeth, and moved closer to it. The beast looked at the princess, and tried smacking her out of the air. Good thing Sakura had great agility, and dodged the beast's swipes. It growled lowly, and turned around, seeing Sakura floating behind it. He roared loudly again, and swiped again, but she was too quick. She flew up high, away from the large beast's reach, and looked at the pink speck.

"How do I defeat it?" Sakura asked, looking down at the ugly beast. For one minute, the speck didn't reply, and then it jumped in front of her.

"The weakness is on its back. See see?" Sakura looked at the beast more closely, and indeed, saw a large symbol marked in the beast's back.

"I see it!" Sakura said, flying towards the beast, leaving the speck behind her. She held the sword tighter, as she approached the strange creature. She was on a right on target, just one stab, and it'd be over, but it's never that easy. The beast turned around, and Sakura didn't have enough time to pull back. It took a large swipe at her, smacking her a good ways away, onto the fortress ground. She hit the ground with a loud thud, and afterwards the clanking sounds of the sword landing farther away from her.

"Princess Princess!" the speck shouted, quickly moving towards her. "Get up get up." Sakura opened her eyes, and turned her head towards the beast. It was slowly walking towards her, claws at full length, and drool dripping from its lips. The princess tried getting up, but a large wave of pain flowed through her. She looked down, and saw her leg gashed open. Sakura couldn't move that leg, which was sadly her left. She used her hands to drag her body across the fortress floor, but the beast would catch up to her quicker, than she would reach the sword.

"Hurry hurry!" it shouted, it's voice rising. Sakura wasn't stupid; she knew she heard the large creature not far behind her. Its breathing was down right on her injured leg. The beast smirked, and slammed one of its large paws right on her left leg, making Sakura released a loud scream of pain.

"Princess!" the speck shouted. The princess didn't dare look at the beast, she didn't have time to. She reached her fingers out as far as she could, trying to grab the hilt of the sword. The beast squeezed her leg tighter and tighter in its grip, making her squint in pain, but she didn't let out a scream. It'd only make her lose focus. She reached and reached, stretching her arm out as far as it could go. The pink speck took notice, and flew over to the beast. It must have done something good, because the beast let out a scream of pain, and moved its paw of her leg. With swift movement, Sakura leaped up, and grabbed the hilt, and gripped the sword tightly in her hand. When she turned to face the beast, its paws were over its eyes, screaming. The pink speck flew over to Sakura, swirled around her, and made her float. Sakura didn't hesitate. She flew towards the beast, got right behind it, and stabbed the sword in the middle of the symbol on its back.

It released a roar louder than anything Sakura has ever heard. The fortress shook rapidly, and the platform where the sword had once been, broke off and fell into the open sky. Purple liquid gushed out of the beast's wound, and smeared the princess's face. She tried pulling the sword out, but it wouldn't budge. The beast cried again, and the fortress shook, and something else of it fell off. After one last cry, it fell onto the ground, and melted into a pool of purple liquid. The sword was lying in it, and at that time, Sakura pulled the sword out, and the purple liquid covered her hands.

"Look look!" the speck shouted, jumping up and down furiously. She looked, and gripped the hilt tighter, thinking it wasn't over, but it wasn't another creature to fight. In the pool of liquid, was a feather, almost like hers, but its colors were blue, with purple lines on it.

"That's one of Jaydes's feathers..." Sakura said, rushing towards it, and grabbing it. The pink speck flew in front of Sakura's face, and smacked her nose, making her drop the feather.

"No no. Don't touch. Jaydes bad woman!" it said. Sakura was confused, and looked at the speck closer. It wasn't just a speck of dust, it was a tiny human! It almost could be mistaken for a tiny doll.

"You're not dust!" Sakura exclaimed. The little human looked at Sakura, and shook its head.

"No, I'm a fairy! I've been locked up in this fortress ever since that beast appeared. My name is Cake." it said. The little pink fairy, Cake, had enormous pink eyes, and long pink hair, longer than its body. Its wings were caramel gold, and of course, pink.

"Oh, I never knew fairies existed." Sakura said, "But the feather's I'm collecting are for Jaydes."

"Jaydes bad!" Cake said, slapping Sakura's nose again. "You're not the enemy, I know you're not. You don't work for Jaydes!" Sakura had remembered what Cloudrunner said about Jaydes, which if it even was Cloudrunner.

"So, then the feathers..." Sakura said.

"Is one of the many ways Jaydes uses magic. Bad! If you bring her feathers, she'll make more and more trouble!" Cake said. Sakura stared at the the feather, than back at Cake.

"Alright, then I won't give her feather's back." Sakura said, and then she looked at her hands. 'But what about this sword?" Cake smiled and replied quickly.

"That's the sword of the Sacred Dragon, Terra." she said, "His blade has been passed down by many souls that connect to the Earth, but...you don't connect to Earth." Sakura, now even more confused looked at her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Let me explain. You already know the prophecy which tells of the world's destruction. Well along with the ones of Fire and Ice, is Air and Earth. Air and Earth are to help Fire and Ice. Of course, I know the prophecy is coming true, because you're here. Yep yep." Cake said. Sakura looked around, and thought back.

"Oh no, then...Syaoran! He might be in trouble!" Sakura said. She grabbed Cake in her hand, and ran inside the fortress.

"Ow ow! What's with the rush?" Cake asked, squirming out of Sakura's tight grip.

"We need to get out of here! How do we leave this fortress!" the princess sounded scared, and Cake looked at her.

"There's a portal out of here, but I never go near it. It leads to the bad place." Cake said.

"Show me this portal. I need to help Syaoran. And you are coming with me! I need you!" Sakura said, running deeper into the fortress. Cake rolled her eyes, and sat on Sakura's shoulder.

"I'm only doing this cause I was supposed to meet up with you when the prophecy began. If you wish to reach that cursed portal, you'll need to go into the courtyard you were first in, and find the Airless Chamber." Cake said, her voice sounding less happy. Sakura nodded, and began running through all the broken rubble, back to the courtyard. It seemed different than the first time she was here, but she never found out the reason. Was it because she had been brought back to health by a beast that tries killing her, or was that really Cloudrunner? She would never know. She reached the center, and looked around.

"There!" Sakura said, running off towards a door. It was almost hidden by crates, and hard to see if you didn't look hard enough. Sakura didn't bother with the other doors; she knew it was the right one. The large Cloud symbol on it gave it away. She ran up towards the door, and pounded on it. She rested her hands on it, and looked back at Cake.

"Cake, how do I open it?" Sakura asked, trying to push it. Cake looked up at the giant door, and raised her hand up. As Cake's hand rose, so did the door.

"I'll leave the door open. Once you're in, there will be no air to breath. In the center of the room is a portal that'll warp you to that place." she said, flying off Sakura's shoulder, and into the Airless chamber. The room was strange, different than the rest of the fortress. On the ground was a large grating, covering a fan underneath it. In the center of the room, was a glass panel, just like before, only with a steel base around it.

"I don't see the portal, Cake." Sakura managed to say, she covered her mouth and refused to open it. She almost forgot it was an airless chamber.

"It's there!" Cake said, pointing at the glass panel. Sakura didn't even bother to ask why she could talk with no air, but she quietly walked towards the glass panel. It brought back memories of Syaoran when they were in that one palace, and then she hoped how she might see him again. She put one foot on the panel, and dragged the other one on it. She was surprised how it didn't break when she stood on it, but a golden glow of light was shimmering through the glass, surrounding her body in the dim. She closed her eyes, and forgot everything. She wanted to just think about Syaoran, and helping him on this journey. She clenched the sword tighter in her hand, and without her knowing, little speckles of gold light surrounded her, and she vanished from the glass panel, into a stream of gold light and sparks...

"Now I know this isn't real!" Kurogane shouted, clenching his fist tighter. Inside, the crystal began dancing more rapidly, as his rage increased.

"Now, let's have some fun with this." Ashheart said, patting Kurogane's mother shoulder. "This is a test to see if you are worthy." Kurogane stared at the illusion of his mother, teeth gritting in rage.

"If only I had my sword, this creep wouldn't be a problem." Kurogane thought, "But all I have is this stupid crystal of fire!" Ashheart smiled and backed away from the woman. She smiled and clapped her hands together. When she pulled them apart, she held a long sword, its hilt painted with reds and blues.

"What?" Kurogane growled.

"I see you're shorthanded Kurogane, but if you wish to pass this test, you must fight someone stronger than you, in weaponry and in soul." Ashheart said, turning his back to the fighters. The fire was dancing quicker and quicker, and Kurogane's knuckles turned white.

"I understand." he said, looking up at his opponent. "My only weapon is fire." Kurogane thought, looking down at the crystal. "I just hope I know how it works." He unclenched his fist, and started running around the woman who portrayed an image of his mother. She didn't move, but her smile grew as he was moving.

"She must be planning an attack." Kurogane thought. He was trying to think of a way to have the flames come out again, and attack, but he barely remembered how it worked last time. The woman turned around and lashed the sword out from underneath her arm, cutting a small scar on Kurogane's arm.

"She's fast!" he thought. She moved from her spot, and jumped up onto a tall pillar, and gazed down at him, chuckling. He stopped running, and looked up at her.

"You've grown so well son, but it's not enough to beat me. You still don't know what true strength is." she said, exactly in his mother's voice. That's right, he didn't. He had nothing to protect but himself, but that isn't strength. Wait, protect. He had a lot to protect. He had Syaoran, Sakura, and even that stupid wizard and Pork bun. They needed him; he couldn't die because of this stupid test. The flames reacted to his thoughts almost too quickly. They roared out of the crystal, and spiraled around Kurogane rapidly. Ashheart smiled, and turned to face him.

"I see. You must be the Heart of Fire." he said calmly. Kurogane ignored his comment, and glared at his opponent.

"I do have true strength! I'll show you!" Kurogane said, glaring up at the woman. He screamed loudly, and the flames around him began destroying everything around him, just like before. Everything, even the stone was turning to ashes. The vision of his mother didn't last through the flames, and neither did anything. The flares were still dancing when he looked back at Ashheart.

"Any more tests?" he asked, his smile growing across his face. Ashheart smiled and looked at Kurogane.

"Heart of Fire, you pass the test, but there is nothing compared to what you'll face. You're still missing the main point. You must never trail near the Temple of Souls, with the Eyes of Ice, or the..." Ashheart was swept in the wind, and his spirit dissolved into ashes. Kurogane stood puzzled by what he just saw.

"Ashheart!" he yelled, "You have more to tell me!" he said, but the spirit of the man never returned. The flames managed their way back into the crystal, and danced to the beat of his heart, a slow beat. The place was just charred black, even though stone isn't suppose to burn.

"I guess I have to figure the rest out from here. Something about the Temple of Souls and the Eyes of Ice." he mumbled to himself, leaving the center of the room, to a stairway where Ashheart's ashes sat. He found the pile of ashes scattered on the floor where he once stood. Kurogane, scooped them up tenderly, and released them into the open breeze. He noticed a passage way, at the base of the floor on which he stood. It was leading to a large staircase, down-ward into flickering light.

"If that's my only way out, I'll take it." Kurogane muttered, holding the crystal tighter, and walking into the passage. The corridors smelt of burnt wood, duh the torches, and humid air. The heat was so intense here, maybe no one would be able to survive, but Kurogane wasn't normal. He had Fire on his side, protecting him from such things.

The stairs seemed to last forever. The only sound that was ever heard was from his footsteps, making him more uncomfortable, feeling the silence. The dancing flames inside the crystal made no noise, but if they did, he would hear them flickering. The torches flickered their light the further he ventured on down the stairs. Just how long were these stairs, too long just a bit. After every turn, there was even more stairs. This must be deep into the Earth's core, if this Earth even had a core.

Eventually, he came to a flat surface, and in the center of the room, a glass panel with golden light emitted from it. Kurogane wasn't stupid. He has seen one before, in the palace they started in. He walked over to it, knowing it would take him up to the next level. He placed both feet on the panel, and stood perfectly still. The flames inside the crystal danced more peacefully.

"Let's get out of here." he said out loud. But the panel didn't lift. Golden sparks surrounded Kurogane, and he vanished with the sparks, into a stream of gold light. To his relief, the crystal was still tightly in his arms when the sparks engulfed him...

The melody came to an end as Fai reached the last step. He wasn't inside the ice chamber anymore, but in the calm wind and snow. The stairs had brought him to the top of the cliff, where the bright blue glow was coming from.

"The power, it's a lot stronger now." Fai said, staring before him. A shock of chills coursed through his body, and his eyes turned into nothing but a sea of blue. His hair was blowing slightly with the wind. His body was lifeless, but it slowly walked forward, toward the blue glow. The snow he walked in, never left his foot prints, and the wind wasn't cold against his skin. There was a strange magic energy field around the crystal, Fai could feel it. The closer and closer he got to it, the stronger and stronger it became. Without his control, his hand lifted from his side, and reached out to touch the object emitting the blue glow. Its light shined brighter and could almost blind him, but his body was almost being controlled. With his left ring finger, he touched the object.

The wind began blowing harder, and the temperature decreased. Snow was brushing past his face, and throwing ice crystals in his face. The wind swirled around him and the object, freezing him, as if trying to defend itself.

"The Eyes of Ice, a young mage..." Fai whispered barely hearable above the roaring wind. "Will be sent to retrieve, the Divinity Ice Comet." Slowly, the wind stopped roaring so loudly, but now very quiet. The snow was still drifting through the air, but the blue glow had gone. Fai stared at the object sitting on the pedestal. It looked like a rock, made of glass, but it wasn't. Inside the pure glass object, was a small blue light, which had been blinding him from before.

"This...is the Divinity Ice Comet..." Fai said, cupping the glass comet in his hands. He held it close to his face, watching the blue glow dance inside the comet. To his finger tips, the comet was cold, probably sub-zero, but he never let go of it. He was made for the comet, and the ice upon it was his to control. He lifted the comet off the pedestal, and held it close to his chest. He closed his ice eyes, and stood still in the chilly wind.

"Forward..." Fai whispered, taking small steps forward. He didn't open his eyes, but just walked slowly forward, and held the comet to his chest. He kept a slow pace, the same pace when he was on the stairs. He held the comet tighter, and took one more step forward. The wind was rushing up against his face, and snow crystals crashing into his closed eyelids, as he fell silently down towards the snow covered ground below the cliff.

Although, his body never landed on the snowy ground he had once walked upon. Still holding the comet close to his chest, his body crashed into the freezing rushing river. He never opened his eyes, but was pushed around in the water's current. Its cold waters nipped at his body, trying to freeze whatever skin it could, but he was unharmed. The comet was protecting him, with its magic. Every so often, his body would hit the hard sides of the bank, but he never let go, and never opened his eyes. It was as if he had stopped breathing, and his body was without a soul. His body drifted up upon a snowy shore, attacking his body with its cold fingers. He felt the chills this time. His hands clutched the comet tighter, hoping its magic would come back to protect him, but the magic rested quietly inside the comet.

"Rest child..." a voice whispered inside Fai's mind."You're safe now..." It must be the comet, speaking to him through thought. Without much of a choice, Fai relaxed his body in the cold blankets of snow, and calmed his breathing. He held the comet as close to his chest as possible, letting the comet feel his heart beat. His body drifted off into rest, but before a complete sleep took over him, he had heard footsteps in the snow nearby him...


	4. Part Four

Part Four

The golden sparks faded away quickly, and Syaoran opened his brown eyes. Rain was crashing down on him, pelting his clothes to his skin. He slowly stepped off the golden platform, and took a quick look around. He was almost surprised. He noticed it right away, a large platform in the middle of the area, but on the end of each ramp that went up to it, was one golden window, like the one he stood upon. There were four ramps, so four platforms. He looked at the other two, just as golden sparks began dancing around them.

"What?" he thought, clenching his fist. He was ready for a fight, and when the outline of the bodies appeared in the golden lights, he was ready. On one platform, the one on his far right, Sakura's body formed out of the light. In her hand, she clenched a sword, its hilt decorated with a dragon and vines. On her shoulder, was a pink speck of dust.

"Princess!" Syaoran yelled, running over to her, unclenching his fist. At the call of her name, Sakura turned to face him quickly, ignoring the rain on her face.

"Syaoran!" she called, running towards him. As they got closer, Syaoran noticed the purple liquid dripping off her hand, and he completely forgot about the other platform. He got right before Sakura and held her arms.

"What happened Sakura, tell me! I was worried!" Syaoran said, looking deep into her eyes.

"You wouldn't believe anything I said Syaoran." she said, her face filling with red. It was then they saw the bright flash of golden light, from the platform Syaoran had forgotten.

"Princess get behind me." Syaoran said, stepping in front, but Sakura held his shoulder.

"I got it." she said, holding up the sword, ready to strike. Sakura never got to fight anything, or anyone. The golden sparks faded, and the first thing they noticed first, was a crystal with flames dancing inside it. Holding the strange crystal, Kurogane looked up at them, eyes filled with anger.

"You dare raise a sword against me?" Kurogane snarled, stepping off the platform.

"Kurogane! You're alright!" Syaoran said. He understood it a little bit now. There were four of them, and four ramps, and four platforms. He suspected Fai would be coming in shortly.

"Kurogane-san, what is that you're holding?" Sakura said, resting the sword at her side, and gazing at the dancing flames.

"It's just as you think, the Sacred Inferno Crystal." Kurogane didn't have to explain, they've all heard the legend, and they know what's going on. Sakura's eyes widened, and looked at Syaoran.

"I didn't know Kurogane was the Heart of Fire!" Syaoran never suspected it either. He was pretty darn sure it would be him, but it wasn't.

"Now let's do the math here." Syaoran said, He looked at Kurogane, then the Crystal. Then a shudder coursed through him.

"Wait, Syaoran, before you do any explaining..." Sakura said, looking around through the pouring rain, "Where is Fai-san?" Syaoran and Kurogane looked around too, and Kurogane smiled.

"Who cares, it might be better without him here." Kurogane said.

"No, I think he might be..." Sakura said, falling short on words.

"The Eyes of Ice?" A voice came from on top of the platform. Quickly, the three turned around to see them. Raining was pouring down on them, wetting down their blonde hair. At first Syaoran thought it was Fai, but it couldn't be, he only had one eye. His hair was in a low ponytail, and he wore all black, and a spiked collar around his skinny neck. If Syaoran knew Kurogane well enough, he would take this guy for Fai, and strangle him. Good thing he didn't.

"Fai?" Syaoran uttered under his breath, even though he knew it wasn't him. Sakura stared at the boy with great big eyes, wondering who they were, just as much as Syaoran. Kurogane put his hand on his hip, and smiled.

"What happened to you wizard? You look worse than before." The look alike smiled, a very uncomfortable smile, and rested his hands on his hips.

"If I were you, Kurogane, I'd take those words back; after all, they might be the last ones you ever say..."

It wasn't cold anymore, but it was cramped. Fai opened his eyes, and saw his reflection staring back at him. The small space he was in had his legs pretty close to his body, and had him hunched over a bit. He was only moving one hand because the other was holding the comet still.

"How did I get here, and where is here?" Fai asked, feeling the glass in front of him. Good thing he wasn't claustrophobic, or this would have been really bad. He put a small frown on his face, and lifted his head up. He saw a rainy sky, pouring down rain, the water droplets pitter pattered on his little glass prison. Before him, was a giant hole, and his prison was sitting nicely in it.

"Well, look at it this way..." Fai thought, looking up again. "At least you're staying dry." He hugged the comet closer to his chest, and put his head down. Then the prison shifted. He shot his eyes open immetidalty, and looked around. The small prison he was in was moving upwards, towards the rainy sky...

Sakura and Syaoran stared at the other man, still standing there on the platform. He looked behind him, and started chuckling, very quietly.

"What's so damn funny you freak!" Kurogane yelled, the flames inside the crystal beginning to rage. He stopped chuckling and gazed at the crystal with the fire inside.

"Oh, this makes things a lot easier." he said, placing his hands on hips. From behind him, a pure glass crystal began floating. It was as if it was under neath the platform, and was it? That didn't matter, Sakura and Syaoran stood in shock at the sight of the glass crystal.

"What?" Kurogane shouted. He saw what the other two did. Inside the glass prison, was Fai, all cramped up, with a small blue glowing light to his chest.

"FAI!" Sakura yelled, covering her own mouth. The man with the long hair, rubbed his hand on the crystal, and looked at the other three.

"Pretty neat huh? In just a matter of minutes, the Divinity Ice Comet will be mine, along with the Scared Inferno Crystal. This crystal prison is depleting his energy as we sit here and chat." Kurogane growled, and Syaoran began thinking of a way to break Fai free, before it was too late. After all, Syaoran, just as much as the others did, wanted to leave this world, alive...

Fai saw them too. He placed his hands against the glass and started shouting. He saw Kurogane and Syaoran's mouths moving, but he didn't hear anything. He supposed they didn't hear him either.

"KURO-TAN! Help me please!" Fai screamed. The comet glowed brighter, blinding everyone near expect him. The others took notice instantly. Fai saw all of them cover their eyes, even this stranger with the one eye.

"Please! Release me! Do something!" Fai thought, holding the comet to his body...

Sakura moved her hand from over her eyes, and remember the sword. She looked at the hilt and patted Syaoran's shoulder. He looked over at her instantly and he grabbed the sword hilt.

"Thank you." he said. Without thinking twice, he ran towards the stranger with the sword held high. As he came closer to him, the other man put up a hand, forming a large field of Celes magic around him. Syaoran pulled back, and gazed at him.

"That's Fai's magic!" Sakura screamed. Kurogane noticed it right away too. He gritted his teeth, and glared at the look alike.

"Who are you? And don't you dare say you're that damned wizard!" The one eyed man smiled, and made the magic markings go away.

"I am Fai, just an alternate version. When you four were transcended back in time, we were created, proving the disruption in time." he said, walking slowly over to Kurogane. "Of course, I have a different name than Fai's, as so do the rest." He was now standing right in front of Kurogane, and he began playing with his ponytail. He put that ugly smug smirk on his face, and looked Kurogane into one of his eyes. "My name, Heart of Fire, is Tsubame."

"Well, I'm still not changing my thoughts about you, but I know one thing." Kurogane said, smiling greatly. Tsubame tilted his head to one side, and smiled.

"And what's that?" he asked. Syaoran noticed it right away, just like Sakura did. Kurogane held the Sword of Terra, and he held it tightly. Whoever this Tsubame character was, he probably wasn't gonna last long.

"This!" Kurogane said, lifting the sword up, and throwing it straight. Syaoran and Sakura slapped their foreheads, and Syaoran couldn't help screaming out.

"How could you miss? He was right there!" Kurogane looked at Syaoran and smiled.

"I didn't." Tsubame turned around quickly, letting his ponytail hit Kurogane in the face, and let out a gasp.

"No!" he shouted. Tsubame tried to run forward, but Kurogane grabbed his arms. It was then; a sound of shattering glass filled the rainy area with noise...

Fai never expected this. He saw Kurogane holding the sword, flirting with this other person, then he threw the sword at him. The glass shattered, and he began free falling, straight down to the ground. He had remembered how long it took him to rise all the way up. It was a long fall down. The comet was still close to him, as he fell faster and faster to the hard ground below. He could feel the rain drops on his cheeks every so often, but he was falling faster than the droplets. He didn't scream, he found it pointless. After all, no one could get there fast enough to save him. As Fai fell further and further to the ground, he felt broken. He closed his icy eyes, and shed a small tear. Then, he hit the ground...

"You bastard!" Tsubame yelled, picking up a broken glass shard. He turned to face Kurogane, with his cold blue eye, teeth gritted. "You'll pay for this! All of this! Just you wait Heart of Fire! You and the Scarlet, and the Soul! You'll all pay!" Tsubame started running away from Kurogane and his group, but the strong samurai brought chase.

"I'm not done with you Cyclops!" he shouted, reaching out to grab his arm, or maybe his hair, that'd be more fun, but he never caught him. Just as fast as he appeared, he had vanished. Syaoran and Sakura, caught up with Kurogane, and for a few minutes, they stood still and let the rain drop on their heads.

"What just happened?" Sakura asked, holding Syaoran's arm.

"I'm not sure, but I think we found our enemy." Syaoran said, rubbing Sakura's back. "But we better get Fai, if he still breathes." Sakura nodded, sadness in her eyes, already predicting the worse, and they headed off the roof, down to the central chamber...

Kurogane was the last one in the central room. He was taking his sweet time. For a strange reason, he didn't want Fai to see him. Would Fai be angry with him, and if he was, why did he care? The flames inside danced a rather slow one, the worry dance. Syaoran and Sakura never noticed it, but Kurogane was almost afraid to see Fai, in the condition he might be in. Dead. When they entered the room, blood was formed in a small pool around the wizard's body. His eyes were closed, and about six feet away from him, lay the Divinity Ice Comet. Sakura squeaked when she saw all the blood, and Syaoran's face went white. Kurogane tried ignoring the pain stabbing his heart, as he made his way over to the Eyes of Ice. What was he suppose to say? Was he even alive anymore? And if he wasn't, then Kurogane's the one to blame.

"Be careful Kurogane." Syaoran said, holding Sakura in his arms. He took a few more steps closer, his foot now standing in the blood. He looked terrible, lying there in a pool of his own blood, colouring his white coat red. Speckles of red lied around in his hair, and down his cheeks. His eyes were shut, and streams of red went over them. Kurogane lifted his head up, to see the height he had fallen. The rainy sky was a good ways away, and to be sadly honest, Kurogane knew exactly how far of a fall he had. One hundred seventy feet.

"Is he..." Sakura stuttered, trying not to sob. Kurogane sighed heavily, and approached the wizard's body. He knelt on his knee and stared at him. How lifeless he looked, lying there in a pool of his own blood. Did he dare think of touching him? After a slight hesitation, he slowly reached over and placed two fingers over the wizard's lips. Barely felt by his finger tips, Kurogane felt the small breaths emitting from him. His eyes lit up slightly, and he turned to face Sakura and Syaoran.

"He's alive!" he shouted...

Everything was motionless. Time didn't move, and voices were calling his name. Was it the comet calling to him again, or was it angels? His body was cold, and a small breeze was passing by him. Everything around him was dark, and flakes of white fell silently around him.

"Am I dead?" the young wizard whispered quietly amongst himself. There was no mistaking it; there was no way he could have survived that fall. Almost muted, Fai could have sworn he heard voices, very far away distant voices. They shouted his name, asking him questions like are you okay, or are you still alive? In a distant part of his mind, he thought he recognized those voices, but from where. When he wanted to reach his hand up, a large wave of pain coursed through him. How long has it been there? Has it always been aching? The voices came back, but one brought his attention off his pain. Kurogane's voice, shouting at him.

"Wake up! I know you're alive magician!" Fai took this into thought. He must be dreaming, he had to be. Slowly, he opened his blue eyes...

The three travelers were pleased to see those ice blue eyes staring back at them.

"I'm alive?" Fai said his voice barely hearable. Kurogane didn't smile, but Syaoran spoke for him.

"Fai, we were worried sick about you. Are you feeling okay?" Fai looked down at his body, which was sending pain through him.

"I don't think so." he said. Sakura slowly walked over to him, and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Hey Cake, can you help us?" she asked the speck on her shoulder. When the speck came closer to everyone's faces, they to saw the tiny doll like figure.

"I can try, but I can't heal, no." Cake said, flying a course up and down Fai's body, as if making a scan. The group watched the pink speck trail over his body, until she came to a halt, and rested gently back on Sakura's shoulder.

"Well, what are the conditions?" Syaoran asked, sitting down on the ground next to Fai. Cake at first didn't look like she wanted to reply, but the words finally escaped her mouth.

"To be honest, I am surprised he survived the fall." she started, and began flying around, as if pacing. "The only damage done to him is he broke both of his legs, his arms, and his back." Syaoran looked at Fai, as if he was re-borned somehow, then he smiled.

"Well Fai, I guess you have a guardian angel." Fai smiled, and stared up at the other three, then slightly turned his head, and kept his gaze on the Divinity Ice Comet.

"Oh I'll get it." Sakura said, picking up the glass comet, and putting it on Fai's stomach. She looked at Kurogane and smiled her sweet smile.

"Since you're the strongest Kurogane-san, you can carry him."

"No, I am not carrying that annoying little pest on my back, or in my arms." Kurogane growled.

"Please, he is severely injured."

"I wouldn't do it even if he was dead!"

"Kurogane!"

"Fine!" With full rage, he lifted Fai off the ground, the comet still resting on his body. Kurogane slung him over one shoulder, and carried him, like he had done in Oto country.

"Well, it's a start." Syaoran said, and it didn't take long for Sakura to notice how nervous he sounded.

"So, where do we go from here?" Kurogane asked, turning his gaze away from Fai.

"Well, we have to stop the chaos right?" Sakura said, smiling greatly, "So now we head off the Temple of Souls!" Syaoran nodded, but raised his hand.

"One problem, how do we get there? In fact, where are we?" Sakura looked at him, and agreed.

"Not only those problems, what about that sketchy freak, Tsubame?" Kurogane grumbled. At the mentioning of him, Fai felt another pain, but it wasn't physical, it was mental. Heart pains.

"I don't think we need to worry about him." Syaoran said.

"But he did say there were others like him didn't he?" Sakura pointed out. Syaoran nodded, but shook the thought off his mind.

"Right now let's focus on leaving here." With that Syaoran led Sakura and Kurogane down a hall way, its walls lined with lit torches. As they walked on, Kurogane kept his mouth shut. He didn't want to mention what Ashheart had said about the Temple of Souls. Sakura and Syaoran wouldn't believe him.

"Oh wait!" Sakura said, turning around. Syaoran stared back at her, and so did Cake.

"What do you mean wait?" Kurogane growled turning around to. Slowly the princess came back, holding the sword of Terra.

"Oh yes, that." Syaoran said, taking it from her hands, and holding it at his side.

"How come you get the sword?" Kurogane growled, sounding angrier.

"Cause, you have to carry Fai, there is no way you'll be able to fight."

"DAMN IT! It's your fault wizard!"

"Actually Kurogane it's your fault." Sakura said, remembering what he had done. Kurogane wanted to shout another sentence, but his words were cut off. He felt, kind of guilty for his actions. He had done what he had done, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Hey wizard, how're you feeling?" Kurogane finally asked, breaking the silence. To his surprise Fai didn't reply. The young blonde was still hurting. Why had this pain started bothering him? He didn't like Kurogane, not in that way! If that's the case, why was he feeling the way he did? Was he jealous of the other blonde from earlier? After swallowing harshly, he replied.

"I'm fine, just fine." Fai tried to smile, but he couldn't. It was a good thing, the rest of the group couldn't see his face, or they would see the hurt inside his expressions...

The four found themselves outside again, out in the pouring rain. It seemed that the large fortress, building, whatever, was floating in air. As far as they knew, there was no way off this thing.

"Great, we're stuck here!" Kurogane grumbled. Syaoran was losing his patience too, but he never showed it.

"Well, we can't jump off." Syaoran finally spoke. "We already know what happens after jumping or falling from high places."

"Yes, but this is much higher." Sakura included. They did their best not to mention Fai's injuries, but they never succeeded.

"We're sorry Fai." Syaoran said, after such a comment.

"It's ok, it wasn't my fault." Fai said, just like he had always said when they said sorry about the subject. They stood still in the pouring rain, completely lost on what to do next. The crystal's fire was dancing much slower, as if something bothered the Heart of Fire. The comet's light was extremely dim, like the light in the eyes of a sad child. Sakura turned back and noticed the artifacts, and couldn't help but asking.

"Are you two alright? Don't lie, I can tell." Kurogane looked up from staring at his feet, and shook his head.

"I'm fine, the crystal must be broken or something." Sakura frowned, and turned her back to them.

"What about that fairy thing, can it do anything?" Kurogane grumbled, making Syaoran jumped slightly. True, they had forgotten about the tiny fairy girl.

"Yes Cake, can you?" Sakura asked, looking at the tiny speck of pink dust on her shoulder. The little fairy opened her eyes, and wiped them off.

"I can't do anything. It's you who has to do all the work, Scarlet." she said. The four all gave the fairy a confused look, and then Cake sighed.

"Sorry, but that's your name. In my village, we spoke of the prophecy, and we knew how the two lovers would come, but along with them, two others. In simple terms, they are called the Scarlet of Sky, and the Soul of Earth. They were to come and aid the Eyes of Ice and the Heart of Fire, and here you all are. I was sent to protect the Scarlet, and lend her my power, and the sword of Terra is for the Soul of Earth." Now it made sense. Sakura knew well enough that the word Terra means Earth.

"I get it, so what can your magic do to help us...or me." Sakura said, looking at Cake again.

"Just like I have done before princess." she said, surrounding Sakura and the others. As she went around and around, a bright pink aura flowed around their bodies.

"This was here when I was flying!" Sakura exclaimed, her body slowly lifting off the ground.

"Yes, but not just you." Cake said, winking at the princess. Sakura turned around, and noticed the others floating to.

"Alright, I guess you follow me?" she said, very unsure of herself, that was until Cake corrected her.

"Nope, everywhere you go, they'll follow right along!" Sakura smiled, and made full flight, off the strange floating castle. Syaoran and his crew were flying through the rainy air, droplets hitting their faces, and wind brushing through their hair. They past many and many rain clouds, pouring their liquids on the travelers, but when they cleared through the clouds, and saw the large cape below, Syaoran couldn't help shouting.

"Sakura! This is amazing!" Sakura smiled, and flew closer to the waters.

"I'm glad you think so!" she said. Syaoran and Sakura took in the lovely cape of waters below, which looked strikingly familiar to Syaoran. As they gazed into the waters, Kurogane kept his mouth shut. He and Fai had mixed feelings. The comet and crystal explained how they felt, depending on the heart beat. The flames inside the crystal danced to the beating of his heart, but the light inside the comet glowed brighter depending on Fai's heart beat. And noticing such a slow dance, and a very dim light, they were having unpleasant thoughts. Kurogane was still mad at himself. Why did he feel so guiltily in hurting Fai? He was only trying to rescue him, but he still felt bad. It drove him insane. He thought he hated that wizard, but his heart said otherwise.

Fai however, was having a harder time. He felt, discarded. Did Kurogane try to kill him, so he could be with that other blonde he was flirting with? Did Kurogane really want to banish him off this planet? Kurogane always acted like a jerk around Fai, but the blonde knew better. People like to hide their true feelings, and Kurogane was one of those people.

"Ok, we're coming in for a landing, right in front of that temple!" Sakura shouted, pointing at a large stone building. Indeed it sparked in Syaoran's mind. It was the temple he had over-looked earlier.

"That's it! The Temple of Souls!" Cake shouted cheerfully, as they came in for a nice landing on the stone surface. When their feet hit the ground, the pink aura trailed away from them, and they gazed at the large stone structure. Syaoran wanted to say he has been here before, but thought better to keep his mouth shut.

"Well, what're we waiting for?" Kurogane said, walking inside, "The sooner we fulfill this prophecy, the sooner we'll leave this cursed planet." Everyone had the same thoughts as Kurogane, expect Fai. He really wanted to know things about this world, and more importantly, about the one called Tsubame. Kurogane mentioned his name, the name of the one who might steal his heart away from Fai. Even though it didn't look like it, Sakura, Syaoran, and Kurogane wanted to know more about him, and what he meant by, we and us. They set that to their least of worries, and walked inside the Temple of Souls...

The stone echoed the steps of their feet around the large corridors. Now it all made sense to Syaoran. The stair case with the red carpet was for the Sacred Inferno Crystal and the one with the blue for the Divinity Ice Comet. Stepping in front of the group, he looked at them.

"Alright, see the two sets of stairs with the pedestals on them?" Syaoran asked them, pointing to the staircases, "Go forth."

"Ahem." Kurogane grunted, giving Syaoran a glare. Oh yes, he had forgotten, Fai was crippled.

"Wait a minute Syaoran." Sakura said, looking around the temple. He turned to face the princess, worried.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" he asked.

"I believe so. I keep hearing these voices. They are telling us to turn back." she said, holding her hands closer to her chest.

"Oh forget the voices!" Kurogane shouted. Syaoran and Sakura were so busy chatting; they didn't notice Kurogane standing in the middle of the two staircases. "Let's just get this damn thing over with." Sakura looked around again, and then something hit her memory.

"Wait!" Syaoran looked at her again, and Kurogane sighed an irritated sigh.

"What now?" he grumbled impatiently.

"Didn't the prophecy say, 'The destruction will begin when the Pendant of Jaydes is placed'?" She had a point. Fai had remembered that part, just as much as the others had.

"Well then, I guess nothing will happen then." Syaoran said, but he took his words back. Inside the middle pedestal from earlier, was a small purple pendant. There was no mistaking it.

"It's already placed." Syaoran pointed out. After he spoke, the whole temple began shaking. Everything around them began falling to the ground. Sakura hugged Syaoran on the ground, and Kurogane held Fai in his arms, kneeling on the ground.

"It's starting!" Sakura screamed. Almost quickly Syaoran turned to face Kurogane.

"Kurogane, you must make the bond! Between Fire and Ice, just like the prophecy said!" he shouted. Kurogane looked up, and growled loudly.

"I am not making any bond."

"Do you want this world to be destroyed?"

"No."

"THEN KISS HIM!" Sakura shouted. Her voice echoed off the walls, even as they began crumbling down. Kurogane stared down at the crippled magician in his arms, and made a disgusted face.

"I can't believe I am going to do this." he thought, staring into his eyes...

Fai was gazing up at Kurogane, staring into his eyes as well. This was it, the moment where he and Kurogane save the world. All it takes is one tiny kiss, which will create the bond between Fire and Ice. Fai didn't know whether or not to be happy, or sad. What if this was all just a stupid dream, just for his fantasy, but it couldn't be. Not after the heavy snow storm, the long fall, and the crumbling building around them. Fai looked up at Kurogane, and closed his eyes. Really slowly, Fai got ready. He made sure his eye lids were tightly shut, and puckered up...

Sakura and Syaoran watched Kurogane and Fai get only inches away from each other, ready for the bond to be created. What they mainly wanted to know was, would it work? What happens after the bond is created? Will they be warped home, or to another world? No answer came to Syaoran's mind, he just watched as the bond was about to be created. Kurogane looked over at Sakura and Syaoran, and immediately saw their staring eyes. He quickly lifted his head up, and yelled at them.

"Will you two quit staring at us! You're making me nervous!" That was Kurogane's biggest mistake. After he finished shouting at the kids, a pair of hands slipped out from behind Kurogane, grabbed his cheeks, turned him around and kissed his tender lips...

When Fai opened his eyes, he let out a pitiful cry. How could Fai believe the sight before his eyes? Right before him, he saw Kurogane in a lock with the lips of the one-eyed blonde from before, the one they called, Tsubame. Fai's heart shattered, pieces of it falling everywhere inside him.

"Kuro-puu?" he managed to say quietly. The rumble of the building continued, larger and larger pieces falling to the ground. Does Kurogane think he's kissing Fai? The Eyes of Ice kept his eyes on Kurogane, and trembled. He was aching all over in his poor broken body. He saw Kurogane wrap his arms around the one-eyed boy, embracing the kiss deeper. Syaoran and Sakura were staring too, in major disbelief.

"Say something Fai!" the blonde thought to himself, "Tell Kurogane that's not you!" He wanted to scream at him, but he was too broken inside. Thankfully, Sakura was thinking the same thing.

"Kurogane!' she shouted...

Slowly, the warrior opened his eyes, to see one blue eye gazing back at him.

"Well wizard, what happened to your eye?" Kurogane asked, his voice still sounding seductive.

"Thanks for the kiss, Heart of Fire." Tsubame replied, embracing Kurogane into another kiss. The warrior was still caught into Tsubame's spell, and he wrapped his large arms around the little creep. Syaoran and Sakura stood in disappoint, watching Kurogane lock lips with the wrong person.

"Didn't he see the eye patch?" Sakura asked Syaoran, holding his arm tighter.

"No, he didn't." Syaoran reassured her. He knew Kurogane was under an enchantment, he could feel the presence of the magic, but he never said it to Sakura. The young Soul of Earth had his eyes on Fai, lying there in Kurogane's lap, broken to pieces. Sakura caught the brunette's gaze and sadness filled in her eyes. She sort of had an idea of what Fai was feeling. Heart break...

How long has he been hurting like this? He was still staring at Kurogane, who now loved this other person, right before him. Fai closed his eyes, trying not to weep, but it's easier said than done. He tried to think of something else, like what will happen now? He isn't the Eyes of Ice, I am. Will the prophecy take place, or not? He tried thinking of things like that, but all he could think about was the two kissing. It also didn't help that Tsubame was moaning out the pleasure...

The building shook more and more, and a large beam fell down, breaking Kurogane and Tsubame from their heart-filled kissing. The warrior looked deep into Tsubame's eye. How sexy he was! His eye had a flame dancing around in it, almost like the Sacred Inferno Crystal, but this was no heart beating flame. This was love!

"I'm rather surprised, Heart of Fire." Tsubame said, as Kurogane embraced his cheeks in his hands.

"Why? You shouldn't be." Kurogane said, locking their lips once again. The two of them stayed locked, deeping their juicy kiss, until the crumbling hit a high magnitude.

"I AM DISPLEASED!" a voice came booming out of the crumbling. Kurogane, Sakura, Syaoran, and Fai all cast there glances to the pedestal, where the voice had came from. "YOU DISAPPOINT ME! HEART OF FIRE!"

"What do you mean? I just complete the damn prophecy. I made the flipping bond." Kurogane shouted.

"NONSENSE! YOU NEVER MADE ANY BOND!" it shouted. It was then Kurogane looked in his arms. His heart had sunk. After looking at the one he held in his arms, he looked down at the one lying on the floor, shattered into pieces.

"What...have a done?" Kurogane stuttered, his skin going pale.

"HEART OF FIRE! YOU'VE MADE THINGS WORSE THAN BEFORE!" Slowly the building began crumbling apart. A large glow of black light formed from the pedestal where the pendant was placed. Everyone's gazes trailed to the large black light, sucking up everything inside it.

"It's a black hole!' Syaoran yelled, holding Sakura tighter in his arms.

"Well, I must be off. I don't want to keep Jaydes waiting." Tsubame giggled, as he got away from Kurogane.

"What?" he shouted after him, but he was too late. Tsubame had ran inside the black hole, along with the other pieces of rumble.

"You! Tell me what's happened?" Kurogane shouted.

"YOU'VE JUST GIVEN JAYDES THE POWER! ALL SHE NEEDED TO RE-ACTIVE HER POWERS FROM THAT PENDANT WAS THE SOUL OF THE HEART OF FIRE!" the booming voice said, shaking the building even more.

"I never gave her my soul!" Kurogane shouted back.

"SILENCE! BY CREATING A BOND WITH THE SUBUCCUS, YOU'VE SOLD YOUR SOUL TO THE DEVIL!" Sakura and Syaoran gasped and Kurogane's skin went paler.

"How do we save the world then?" Syaoran shouted over all the rushing wind and rumbling.

"YOU MUST CREATE THE CORRECT BOND!" The voice boomed. Around all the action, Sakura, Kurogane, and Syaoran never noticed the Divinity Ice Comet and the Scared Inferno Crystal placed on their respectful pedestals.

"I'VE ALREADY PLACED THE COMET AND CRYSTAL!" the voice said, crumbling the building more, "BUT I CAN'T DO NOTHING MORE."

"Oh no!" Sakura shouted. Kurogane saw it to, almost too late. Fai's body was lifeless and just disappeared into the darkness of the black hole!

"No! I won't let this happen!" Kurogane shouted, running towards the void.

"Kurogane!" Syaoran shouted, but he was too late. Kurogane was sucked in by the black hole.

"IF YOU WISH YOU HELP YOUR FRIENDS, SCARLET AND SOUL, YOU MUST ENTER THE REALM OF JAYDES, AND HELP FIRE AND ICE!" Syaoran held the hilt of his sword tighter, and grabbed Sakura's hand.

"Let's go, they need our help." he said, running towards the void.

"BEFORE YOU LEAVE, BEWARE OF THE REFLECTIONS!" the voice roared, but it was too late. Sakura and Syaoran were already far into the void, and the Temple of Souls, continued to crumble...


	5. Part Five

When Syaoran and Sakura successfully reached the other side of the void, everything around them seemed in chaos. Crumbles of the temple were floating about in time-less space, and they barely were standing on anything. Everything flowed around in an orbit, surrounding the core of the paradox. The colours of black and purple swirled around the floating pieces of matter.

"This place is out of wack." Syaoran said, helping Sakura to her feet. Her gaze was passed amazed by the moving objects. Just where were they? Is this what is inside most black holes?

"Syaoran...this is..." she uttered. Syaoran looked around, holding the sword tighter in his hand.

"Come on, we've got to look for Kurogane." he said, pulling her further towards the center of the orbiting objects. It was lucky oxygen had been sucked into this vacuum, or they would have probably been dead. They jumped from one floating slab to another, with every leap getting them closer and closer to the center. Just where could of Kurogane have gone so quickly? Was he that fast, or did the void drop them off somewhere different then where he was?

"Syaoran, I'm nervous. We don't know what to expect here." she said, squeezing Syaoran's hand tighter. He scooped her up in his arms, and he made a bigger leap to a smaller landing. He ignored her comment, and ventured on, in search for the center of this mass chaos...

Kurogane took a bigger leap and landed harshly on a stone landing. He was so angry at that wretched Tsubame. It's his entire fault that he was in this paradox, and inches away from losing his soul. Why had he taken up so much time to do this? All he had to do was kiss Fai and it'd all be over with, but no, he kissed Tsubame.

"That damn enchantress!" he cursed out loud and he continued jumping from stone to stone. He chuckled slightly on how Tsubame, the reflection of Fai was called a Subuccus Enchantress, which are female titles. Well he does have long hair in a ponytail, therefore, giving him such names.

No matter how far he ran, and jumped, it seemed that he was never getting any closer to the center of this orbit. Every now and then, a large stone would crumble to pieces after he jumped off it, or a new one was brought into orbit.

"This has to be a time paradox." Kurogane thought, and he continued on his way, further and further towards the center...

"Syaoran, this won't stop. We'll be running and running for hours." Sakura whined as they landed on another stone pillar. Syaoran rested next to her, catching his breath from all the jumping. He didn't want to admit to Sakura that she was right. How long did he expect this thing to go? He knew it wasn't ending anytime soon. It just kept going on and on. No matter how far they went, it was only getting bigger and bigger.

"Don't worry princess," he said, grabbing her shoulders, "We'll make it to the center of this paradox." Sakura wasn't too sure with his statement, but she had no choice. He scooped her up again, and began skipping stones, farther and farther into the darkened void...

Kurogane fell on his knee, taking a breather. How long has this void been going on? Does time even tick in this paradox? Kurogane wasn't sure, he never carried a watch. He looked up from his resting position, and something caught his eyes. Before him, a little ways away from him, a short brunette boy, was holding onto a girl with bright orange hair. They were in all black, and they were skipping around the stones, just like he was. He looked real closely, and saw some weird spiked collars on their necks. Without taking much notice, he rose to his feet and watched them.

"Sakura, Syaoran?" he said out loud. Was it really them? If it was, why had they followed him into the void? He clenched his fist and ran after them. He was going to knock Syaoran a good one, for not staying behind, like he had order him to...

"Syaoran look!" Sakura shouted, almost directly in his ear. He stopped running and looked up. He was shocked, just as much as she. Not far in front of them, Kurogane was making his way across the stone slabs, but was it him. He was all dressed in black, and around his neck, was a spiked collar.

"That collar..." Syaoran said quietly. He had remembered seeing it, but where had it been? So many things have happened in this world; he had trouble remembering it all.

"Should we follow Kurogane-san?" Sakura asked Syaoran. He hesitated on rather to follow this guy or not. After all, what if they were trying to lead him and Sakura into a trap? On the other hand, Sakura didn't wait. She jumped off Syaoran's shoulders, and grabbed his wrist.

"Come on we don't want to lose him!" She gave him a light tug, and they began following this stranger, deeper and deeper into this strange vortex...

For two little kids, they sure were running fast. Kurogane had troubles keeping up with them. Then he took back some thoughts as he looked at them again. The collar. Hadn't he seen one just like it, around that one creep's neck? He did! He stopped following them, and stared at them wide eyed. The two mysterious look a-likes where running to a large fortress in the center of the void. All the stone slabs were surrounding this strange fortress.

"I've found it." he grumbled to himself. He watched as the boy went inside, and the girl stayed put. At this moment Kurogane got a good look at her. In fact, she did look like Sakura, but in her eyes, it looked evil and disgraceful. Her hair looked enchanting, as she stood outside the fortress, letting the darkness surround her.

"She's got to be Sakura." Kurogane thought, coming closer to the strange woman...

Syaoran and Sakura also saw the large fortress in the middle of this void. The Kurogane look-alike had lead them there. Syaoran stopped dead in his tracks as he saw the woman standing before the fortress. She looked like Sakura, but she had a stern look upon her face. Plus she was all garbed in black, and she had that strange collar on her neck.

"She looks like..." Sakura said, pointing her out of the shadows. Syaoran only nodded. He watched the Kurogane copy pass by the Sakura copy, and into the fortress.

"That must be Jaydes's place." Syaoran said, grabbing Sakura's hand. The crew waited impatiently, waiting for this woman to enter the castle, but she stood her ground. Was she waiting for something? Did she know they were there? If she did, why hadn't she done anything yet?

"Come on Syaoran, let's just go." Sakura said, tugging him.

"We can't princess. We don't know what this woman is capable of." Syaoran said, holding the princess into his chest. He stayed hidden and watched woman. How lovely she looked in the darkness surrounding her. Her eyes were full of disgrace, or were they elegant? Syaoran shook his head rapidly. He couldn't fall in love with this girl. She serves the enemy, that's all he could say to himself. She was beautiful, but the bad guys want that. Throws your guard down...

Kurogane was growling quietly under his breath. He just wanted to pass right by her, and go on inside. After all, that had to be where Fai was being held captive. He also wanted to get moving quickly. His soul was on the line.

"Come on, let's go!" he grumbled. As if the woman heard him, she turned around, so elegantly, and walked inside the fortress. Kurogane smirked, and came out from behind his pillar, and charged toward the fortress. He looked up from the stones he was jumping on, and noticed Syaoran and Sakura coming towards him. They weren't the same two from before.

"Kid!" Kurogane shouted at him. Syaoran nodded, and held Sakura in one hand, and the Sword of Terra in the other.

"Kurogane? What's going on?" he shouted. What did he mean? Oh he knew now. He remembered seeing the man who looked like him enter the palace. Didn't Syaoran have a brain? Did he not see the collar? Kurogane sighed and when he and Syaoran and Sakura were standing on the ground in front of the fortress, he pounded him on the head.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, rubbing his head.

"I told you not to follow me." he grumbled, just like he had always done. Syaoran looked up, and chuckled.

"I'm sorry Kurogane, I had to." he said, grabbing Sakura's hand. The three of them gazed up at the tall fortress. Many dangers waited inside this place, but what kind? Would it be like before? They couldn't be sure; they just had to be prepared for everything, and anything.

"Ready you two?" Kurogane grumbled, staring at the large gate.

"Yes!" Syaoran said, holding the sword tighter. After Syaoran spoke, the large doors opened, revealing the shroud of purple and black shadows, leading into the fortress. It was as if they were being expected. Slowly the group walked inside the fortress, their bodies being consumed in the darkness of the fortress of Jaydes...

Fai's head really hurt. Did he hit it on something? His eyes were closed and he felt like he was floating. Right now, he wasn't thinking about his head-ache or where he was, he was thinking about his broken heart. He just wanted to die, and lose this pain inside his chest. He was right all along. Kurogane didn't like him at all. He just was toying with his heart. Fai had trusted him, and now everything, just wasted. He held his tears back, not like it didn't matter. He hasn't heard anyone trying to talk to him for such a long time, so he figured he was alone. Slowly, he opened his eyes, aching all over his body.

Darkness was surrounding him, and pieces of stone were orbiting around him. He was in a strange orbit, surrounding the center of this void. He never saw the black hole that had sucked him in this paradox, so he was clueless.

"This can't be the Temple of Souls." Fai thought, looking around him some more. His body still ached terribly as he flipped his body over, so he was floating on his stomach. About a good ways a way, a large fortress was centered in the middle of the orbiting projectiles. Its large towers loomed over in the darkness, sharp and black.

"I see, this must be Jaydes's fortress." Fai thought. For a second he thought he should go help the others, but why should he? His bones were broken, and plus there was nothing he could do. He'd just get in the way of everyone, and he didn't want to see Kurogane. His body continued orbiting this strange void, aching and broken.

"What if they need me?" Fai thought, looking back at the fortress. True, the prophecy did say that the bond has to be between Fire and Ice, but a different bond was created. Fai grunted and looked at the fortress once more.

"It doesn't matter what you think you blasted coward!" Fai told himself, "They need your help. Without you, this world is lost!" With every movement he made, pain made its nice little trip through his body, causing him to scream louder than he had expected to. The pain inside was killing him, but he had to go on. Syaoran and Sakura were counting on him. Kurogane however, probably hoped he had died. He moved his arms and legs, and he forced his body closer and closer to the fortress. The pain was over-whelming, but he had to live through it. He just couldn't back down! Not now, not ever!

"I'm done being a coward!" Fai said to himself, "I tired of letting people chose what happens to me! I'm going to change everything! I'm going to help save this planet!"

The other three were walking through curtains of shadows before reaching the hard stone floor again. Inside the fortress, it was mainly stairs. It kept going up and up and up. The carpet on the steps was purple and gold and the place was made of a shiny black rock.

"This is so stupid!" Kurogane grumbled, as they continued up the steps. They all thought the same thing. After all, they were together in this, all three of them. For as long as they went up, not once had they seen any of those strange look alikes, or that creep Tsubame.

"Are you sure we're in the right place?" Sakura asked, as they passed another large painting of Jaydes hanging on the wall.

"I'm pretty sure," Syaoran said, squeezing her hand tighter. He was a tad bit nervous. He was preparing on what might be around the next bend. After being on the stairs for such a long time, it came to a flat landing. The traveler's stopped walking almost too quickly. Standing on the landing they had just come onto, a figure was standing there. They had short brown hair, and were dressed in all black. His eyes were demented looking, one blue, and the other brown. Around his neck, he had the spiked collar.

"Syaoran?" Sakura asked, but he held her back. It was his look alike.

"Who are you?" he asked, as if the clone would answer him. Nothing left his mouth, just kept his cold stare at Syaoran and the others.

"Hey! He asked you a question!" Kurogane shouted, readying for battle. Slowly, the clone placed his hand on his hip and smiled.

"Hello, Syaoran." he spoke. His voice sounded way too childish. He must of looked way older than he was. Syaoran stared at him, and looked back at Kurogane and Sakura.

"You two go on ahead. I'll deal with this guy." he said. Sakura at first didn't want him to, but Kurogane picked her up, and ran pass Syaoran's clone and up more stairs.

"Who are you? How do you know me?" Syaoran said, staring at his eyes. The clone smiled and walked closer to Syaoran.

"Is it that hard to figure out? I am you, a reflection of you. Like my friend you met earlier, Tsubame." he said, his childish voice almost fooling Syaoran.

"Yes, but that doesn't tell me your name." he said, holding Terra's sword tighter in his hand. The clone stopped walking and smiled again.

"My name is Shaoran. Isn't it interesting how we carry the same name, Syaoran?" he said, coming closer to him, a smile growing bigger upon his face.

"I don't care who you are." Syaoran said, pulling the sword of Terra out of its sheath, "but you won't stand in my way!"

"Oh, how interesting again." Shaoran said, pulling a sword out of a sheath behind him. Its hilt was decorated with a dragon with thorny vines on it.

"What?" Syaoran exclaimed, noticing the hilt.

"This is the Sword of Resa, Terra's sister." Shaoran said his smile not so childish anymore. "Let's fight, Syaoran." Slowly the two took several steps back, and held their swords against each other.

"This isn't going to be easy. He's a reflection of me, so he'll know my moves." Syaoran thought, staring into Shaoran's eyes...

"I hope Syaoran is going to be okay." Sakura said, as she and Kurogane continued running down the long corridors. He never said anything, but he had hoped the same thing. The other kid was quite strange to look at, and his voice was tricky. His voice didn't match him at all. He shook his head rapidly, trying not to think about Syaoran, or Sakura would worry.

"Kurogane..." Sakura mumbled, but Kurogane grabbed her arm, before she could finish.

"Don't worry; let's just keep heading down this blasted hallway." Who knew how long this hallway had been. Just as soon as you thought you reached the end, it continued on. Kurogane and Sakura were getting tired of running, and they were still thinking about Syaoran, and how he was doing. Plus Kurogane was in a big hurry; his soul was on the line still.

"Kurogane, did you see that change?" Sakura asked, gripping his arm for his attention. He stopped running, and looked around. Indeed the area had changed. The scent it carried was different, and smelt...strange. Kurogane couldn't name it, but it had changed since they began running.

"Be prepared." he grumbled looking constantly around the room. Sakura shivered and looked behind them, hoping Syaoran would come running, but he never came. Kurogane was glaring around the room, looking for anyone who might be lurking in the darkness. Then he heard footsteps. By the sound of their footsteps, he could tell they were wearing boots.

"Hello, Kurogane. It's about time you showed up here." a voice said, sounding strangely cold. He walked out of the darkness, his black hair shining in the dim light. His eyes were a dark lovely green, and he wore a blasted spiked collar around his neck. His clothes were all black, and his top was sleeve-less, showing his muscles to anyone who saw him. Kurogane growled, for he knew who this guy was. His reflection.

"Hello geek." Kurogane said, stepping closer towards him. Without another word, Sakura watched them, and then took off further down the corridor.

"Be safe Kurogane." she thought, running past him, "and you too Syaoran." Kurogane payed no attention to her, but keep his red eyes, glued to his reflection.

"So, do you have a stupid name too? Or is it the same as the damned Cyclops?" Kurogane smirked as he mentioned such a devilish creature.

"I'd watch your mouth around here. Tsubame is his name, and if you ever offend him again, you'll be messing with me. My name is Peppermint." he said. That explains that scent! It was exactly what Kurogane smelled. He smirked again, and clenched his fist.

"Well, Peppermint, I'm the Heart of Fire, so good luck beating me." he growled. "Or are you just as wimpy as that one-eye?"

"I warned you! Tsubame is more powerful than you think! He's my love!" Peppermint growled the place cracking as he yelled. Peppermint reached behind him, and pulled a sword out, larger than even Ginryu.

"Damn, I don't have a weapon..." Kurogane thought, trying not to show it on his face. Whatever was this Peppermint talking about earlier? His love was for Tsubame? That little whore? He's got to be joking.

"Are you going to fight me, Heart of Fire?" Peppermint asked, his smile growing wider. It didn't take a genius to know that Kurogane was screwed he didn't have a sword like Peppermint, but he did have one thing on his side. Fire...

The pounding of her footsteps, could have woken the dead. Sakura was running so fast, she almost tripped over her own feet. Where was she going, and how was she to defend herself? Kurogane and Syaoran were fighting those others, and Fai-san was nowhere to be found. She was hopeless. She ran and ran, until her surroundings changed too. A large garden filled with black roses surrounding a pond of blood. Above the pond, was an egg shaped chair, and inside it, sat a woman, sitting like a queen. She looked so elegant, and she didn't seem to notice Sakura. Her gaze was malicious, but lovely at the same time.

"Is this who I believe it should be?" Sakura thought, walking closer to this elegant woman. There was no mistaking it. Sakura was staring at her reflection.

How was one supposed to approach such a woman? She looked elegant, and royal, but evil too. Like a dark angel. Sakura knew what to expect, a fight, but with what? Sakura hadn't told Syaoran and Kurogane that Cake had stayed behind in the crumbling temple. She had refused to enter this realm. Sakura didn't have to do anything, this dark angel saw her already.

"Hello, I get tired of waiting." she said. Her voice sounded too lovely to be true! It was much better sounding than Sakura's, it was just too elegant. Sakura was taken aback, and she couldn't speak. The angel smiled, and slowly floated down onto her black booted feet.

"So Sakura, right? Nice to meet you, at last." she spoke again. She was standing among her black flowers, adding more beauty to her figure. Even the blood behind her looked lovely with her there.

"Speechless I presume?" she spoke, smiling slightly. How lovely her smile, but behind it, was murderous intent. Even though she was absolutely beautiful, she was full of dark thoughts. She walked closer to a black rose, and cradled its head in her hand.

"I can't believe this. Are you mute, or has someone else cut out your tongue before I could." she said, now sounding less elegant. She let the bud slip out of her hand, and she glared at Sakura with those lovely evil eyes.

"Uh...no! I still have my tongue, but I didn't come all this way for you to take it!" Sakura finally spoke, but her threat didn't sound the way she intended it to. Was she sucked into this woman's spell?

"Oh, I'm glad, but it's not your choice if you lose it or not. No one is here to protect your sorry ass." she spoke again, sounding darker than before. Sakura tried to keep her face stern, but her voice was too lovely to do that.

"If you think that, you're wrong! I know you serve Jaydes, and I'll have you know I defeated her creature Oblivion, and you'll be the same! Just a pool of purple blood, with a feather in the middle!" Sakura shouted. Now she sounded angry, but the dark angel smiled.

"Alright girl, we'll see about that." she said, giving Sakura a slight curtsey of her skirt, before glaring back into her eyes. "My name is Jewel, and that is the last name you'll ever hear!" Sakura clenched her fist, staring back at Jewel, deep into her sea green eyes.

"I know, she's dangerous." Sakura thought, replying to the voices echoing in her head. They repeated, 'Help us, help us' and Sakura knew why. If she wasn't careful, Jewel would do the same thing to her. All of those black rose she had in her garden, were the souls of the people she has killed, and the pond of blood, well, their blood...

Jumping back ten feet from Shaoran, he held up his sword, and glared at his reflection.

"Like before, he might know my movements." Syaoran thought to himself, glaring at the look alike. "So, I have to try something new. Let him come at me first, then attack!" Shaoran smiled, and tilted his head.

"Come at me Syaoran. I can read thoughts." he said, running at Syaoran. Out of reflex, he jumped high and stared down at his reflection. It didn't take long, until he jumped up behind Syaoran, and took a nice slice with his sword. Syaoran ignored the pain for now, and dashed away from his copy. The blood was flowing out of his shoulder blades, making a trail for Shaoran to follow him anywhere he went. Syaoran quickly turned around to face him, but saw he wasn't in sight.

"He's gotta to be somewhere." Syaoran thought, looking around. It was too late by the time he found his look alike. Behind him, and he couldn't fight back. Shaoran already took another slice out of him. He screamed and ran forward, but he got in front, and sliced again.

"You can't win this fight Syaoran." he said, his kiddish voice sounding more grown-up. "I'm unbeatable." His smile grew and Syaoran looked into his eyes. The one blue, and the one brown eye, were gazing deep into his soul. After a long gaze, Shaoran bolted behind Syaoran, into the darkness.

"So, he attacks from behind..." Syaoran thought, falling on the ground. He would fight back, but it was easier said than done. His blood was coloring the ground red, and the smell was growing. He almost closed his eyes, but he shot up to his feet.

"I can't give up here!" Syaoran thought, holding the sword tighter. "I've got to beat him. For Sakura's sake!" Almost like lighting, Shaoran came out of the darkness and took another slice at Syaoran, but the only thing he hit, was the Sword of Terra...

He came quickly, but Kurogane was faster. Peppermint slashed many times at Kurogane, but every cut missed him. If Kurogane had one thing on his side, it was speed. Peppermint was shouting war crys every time he took a swing, which gave Kurogane enough time to dodge.

"Stop moving!" Peppermint shouted, chasing Kurogane around the corridor.

"Hmph, if I do that, you'll kill me fool." he grumbled. How stupid did his reflection think he was? Maybe he was the stupid one, but not him. "Why don't you just back down, and let that pathetic enchantress do all the fighting? I bet he's better than you!" Kurogane loved seeing Peppermint mad. It was funny, and it distracted him from the fight. Peppermint stopped running, and threw his sword on the ground.

"Stop it! Tsubame loves me, just like I love him! He'll be proud of me once I kill you!" he shouted. Kurogane furrowed his brow. What was he talking about? As far as Kurogane knew, that Tsubame kid didn't love anything, just death.

"Blah blah blah." Kurogane said, running towards Peppermint. He had a new idea now. He wasn't holding his sword, and Kurogane was better with blades than his bare hands. It didn't take Peppermint long to realize what Kurogane was chasing after, but he smiled.

"I'd be careful Heart of Fire." he said, sounding calm after his fit. Kurogane looked at him, and smiled.

"Why? You actually gonna fight me?" he said. Peppermint's smile grew and he looked Kurogane deep in his red eyes.

"No, I don't have to fight. Once the enchantress says three words, your soul will be in his hands." he said. Kurogane stopped in his tracks. Yes indeed, of course. Every so often he would feel a thick pain inside his chest, but was it really that blasted one-eyed creep? No it had to be something else. Something stronger.

"Shut up Peppermint!" he yelled, grabbing the thin blade in his hands. Now he had the advantage, and Peppermint was screwed, unless he could run as fast as he could lose his temper...

Running. That was all she was doing, just running. Jewel hadn't move from her spot, but laughed wickedly. What was Sakura to do? Maybe this girl had no weapons either. Maybe all she was just talk and no action, but only in her thoughts. Jewel was more than looks. Her power was passed incredible. With just a flick of her fingers, shadows were dancing around her, and obeying her every command. Sakura had troubles out running such creatures. They reached out for her, trying to eat her flesh, and drink her blood. Luckily for her, she was a tad bit faster than some of them, but they did get a chance to slash her once her twice.

"Yes little girl, keep on running. They enjoy it." Jewel laughed evilly, her lovely voice echoing off the walls. Sakura couldn't go on like this. Eventually she'll get tired of running, and those large beast will get there way. She couldn't let that happen, but what else was she to do? Jewel was much more powerful than the princess, and she had no weapons like she did. Normally Syaoran would protect her, but not now. Sakura had to fight for herself, like she did against Oblivion, but that time, she had a sword. Now she had no weapon, or magical power to help her.

"What's the matter princess." she said, mocking the word princess as she spoke, "What happened to the threat you put upon me? I'll turn you into a pool of purple blood, like Oblivion? I don't see it happening yet." Oh how Sakura hated how she mocked her with such an elegant voice! Every time Jewel spoke, she wanted to just rip her tongue out. How could someone just opposite of her have such a voice, and talent? Sakura tripped over her footing, landing on the hard ground with a loud thud. She felt the demon creature behind her, breathing down her neck.

"It's over for you, princess." Jewel mocked her yet again. The large paws of the demon pushed into her back, squeezing the air out of her lungs into the dry air. She looked up to see Jewel looming over her, with a lovely smile on her face, but evil.

"Poor little princess. Where's big, bad Syaoran when you needed him?" she spoke so gracefully, but sounded too evil to be so. She lifted her boot onto Sakura's head, and pushed it down into the floor, suffocating her slowly.

"Syaoran...help me...please..."she sobbed quietly, so Jewel wouldn't hear it...

Syaoran was having troubles by now. The creep was always inches around him, plus he was a lot quicker. Plus, Shaoran had something, Syaoran didn't. The darkness as a cloak, to hide him. Syaoran was constantly running in circles, just trying to avoid him, but every step he took, he was right behind him.

"I can't predict anything! Plus I can't even think my moves. He'll know them right away!" Syaoran thought, running into, yet, another corner.

"Caught you again!" Shaoran's childish voice, came from the darkness, and after it, came a slash of a sharp blade. Blood flowed from his shoulder where the new wound was formed. Holding his breath again, he dashed off, further away from the dead end he had just reached. His child laughter echoed down the corridor, as he made haste through the darkness after Syaoran. The pounding of his footsteps didn't echo as loud as his laughter, but he thought his heart did.

"You're scared, aren't you Syaoran! You can't defeat me. Too bad you never said good-bye to your precious princess." he laughed again, his blade reaching through the darkness, leaving a scar on Syaoran's cheek. Blood dripped to the floor, and Syaoran fell on his stomach. He couldn't run anymore, he lost too much blood. He lifted his head up, slowly from the ground, and stared at the feet of his reflection.

"This sucks, I expected a bigger, and more fun challenge. You were no fun." he said, sounding disappointed. He lifted his sword up, and grabbed Syaoran's sword with his other hand.

"Too bad you couldn't stay long." he said, brining the blades closer to Syaoran's neck...

"Ah! Stop chasing me!" Peppermint shouted as he ran faster and faster around the room. Kurogane was catching up quickly, and almost had him a few times.

"Hold still, it won't hurt that much!" Kurogane teased, slicing through the air, attempting to hit him.

"No! Either way it'll hurt! I can't ruin my beautiful features. Tsubame would hate me if that happened." he panicked, dodging the blade once again.

"Beautiful? Ha! What a joke!" Kurogane laughed, with a slight growl behind it. He was getting tired of this creep and tired of his crappy speeches about his love for Tsubame.

"Well, they are lovely. My face, my muscles. Everything. Fits just to Tsubame's liking."

"You say one more thing about that damned whore, you're gonna get it!" Kurogane yelled, making his legs run faster.

"Ah!" Peppermint screamed, running faster himself. Kurogane was catching up, and when he was in range, he'd end this fool's life and speeches. The loud pounding of the warriors' footsteps filled the corridor with noise. If Kurogane didn't know better, he would have believed that pounding to be Peppermint's heart. He was closer, and in reach. Peppermint stopped running, when he realized he was trapped in a corner.

"Gotcha ya." Kurogane growled, holding the blade up to Peppermint's chest.

"AH! No please spare me! I'll be a good boy. Honest. I never stole candy from the candy jar. I never wet my pants when I was little. I never told a lie! Please I'm innocent!" His cries were pathetic to Kurogane's ears, but it wouldn't bother him for long.

"Shut your pie hole Peppermint." he growled, pulling the sword back, ready for the big moment. Peppermint's death was in three; two, but Kurogane dropped the sword. Peppermint watched the blade hit the ground.

"Wha?" he said in utter confusion. What was wrong? Oh he felt it all right. His heart stopped beating. His energy was fading away. His soul was departing.

"That...damned...enchant..." Kurogane uttered before falling on the ground. Peppermint watched it all, and retrieved his blade. Kurogane wouldn't have to worry about feeling anything. He'd already be dead. It will only take a matter of minutes...

The pain was coursing through his body with every attempted move. It was getting to strong.

"Ah!" Fai screamed out into the emptiness of the void, his voice not being heard. He couldn't move any longer. He was utterly useless. The pain of the broken bones was eating him away inside. He felt like he was dying, but still had the rage to go on.

"I have to help Kuro-puu, even though he doesn't wish to see me." Fai thought to himself, trying to purge onward, but the pain was eating him away. He stopped moving his limbs, giving up. If he dared continued, his body would give out, and he'd possibly never move again. In this void or out of it.

"I just...can't go on." Fai mumbled, letting the words creep out of his lips, barely auditable over the silence. His body was weak, and he could barely move. It was harder to breathe with such a heavy chest, and a heavy heart.

"I'm...sorry, Kurogane..." he said, resting his head back, letting the last of his breath escape him...

A new heart began to beat inside the blonde boy's chest. It was a small beat, but each one brought new life. Slowly, the breathing returned to the airless lungs, filling them with new life. His eyes stayed sealed shut, as he was unaware of the life coming to him.

"What? What is this...feeling?" he thought, realizing the life coming in. His fingers felt different, and his back was aching with pain. It was not normal pain, but internal. It felt as if, something was growing on the inside of him, and expanding. Alongside his dead heart, the new beats were pulsing through him. Something else's breathing was going through his lungs, forcing him to breathe.

"What's happening?" he thought, the fear building up in his new reborn body. His fingers slowly began moving, and his eyes opened once again. He was still in the dark void, being surrounded by the floating debris.

"I don't understand..." he thought. His thoughts were screaming with questions, as his body began moving without his command. His body straightened up, and his eyes focused on the fortress in the center of the void.

"I can't go in there. I'm a complete distraction to the group. I'll just get in the way." Fai managed to say, but a small voice from inside him spoke up.

"Just let me do everything. You do all the talking, and I'll be your movements." As Fai let the voice inside him control him, he was taken aback by the sound of its voice. Every time the voice spoke, he heard a slight chime behind the words it spoke.

"Who are you? More like, what are you?" Fai asked, his feet landing nicely on the ground before the fortress.

"None of that matters right now, just obey, young child." it spoke again, the sound of chimes ringing along with its lovely voice. Fai's body walked forward, and touched the cold frame of the door. His hand pushed it, but it refused to open.

"Look, it's locked. I guess we can't get in." Fai spoke, feeling a tiny bit relieved.

"Yes we can." its voice spoke again. Around the young wizard's body, large gust of wind came and swirled in many circles, dancing with his hair.

"What are you doing!" Fai screamed, watching his hands lift up once more.

"Just watch." it said, as large crystals of ice came to his command. Slowly, they pierced the large door, forcing it open, to reveal a large cloud of black smog.

"What!" Fai said his voice full of shock, as this creature inside him walked him inside.

"I can't let this happen. Jaydes will not rule." its voice chimed, as the wizard's body was consumed by the darkness...

He knew it was over. He felt those cold blades resting under his neck, just waiting to slice through his thin skin. Syaoran stared at his large eyes through the shiny metal on the blade. He could see the fear in his own eyes.

"You look scared Syaoran." Shaoran's child voice spoke, breaking the silence of death. He couldn't believe he had failed his princess Sakura. Wait! Sakura! She needed him! He couldn't quit now!

"I won't die here." he spoke, his Adam's apple hitting the blade of the sword.

"What? Of course you will." Shaoran said, with a chuckle afterwards.

"No, I won't. I made a promise with the princess." Slowly, the ground began crumbling. Shaoran's eyes trailed the room, looking for anything that might come out, and while he did so, Syaoran choose to take action. He rose to his feet, ignoring the pain rushing through him. He grabbed the blades with his hands, and pulled the hilts out of Shaoran's hands.

"What? Are you in pain?" Shaoran screamed, watching his opponent rise to his feet. Syaoran ignored his voice, and continued rising.

"Like I've said, I'll protect the princess. I won't die here." he said, looking at the young child with eyes of determination. Shaoran didn't know what to do. He was disarmed, and Syaoran had the full advantage, except for one thing. He still had the shadows to hide him.

"You'll only cut me, if you catch me!" Shaoran said, taking off towards the darkness. Normally Syaoran would hence chase, but now he was going by instinct, and chance. He heard the frantic footsteps of Shaoran in the darkness. He came closer after ten steps, and closer and closer. Slowly he approached Syaoran, and then, he chose to strike. Blood splattered, covering the ground with red.

"What!" Shaoran screamed, as he watched the blood color the ground.

"You'll need better tactics if you choose to stand against me, Shaoran, also known as Sleath Shadow!" Syaoran said, pointing the blades at him.

"How did you know my title, Soul of Earth!" he screamed, rising to his feet once again.

"I figured it out, I guess." Syaoran said, preparing to slice through the pathetic child's neck.

"Too bad, Syaoran." he said, chuckling quietly. He hoped back from the blades, landing on his hands, then back on his feet. "You'll have to catch me if you wish to kill me." he said, running further down the corridor.

"Oh I will!" Syaoran said, chasing after him, holding the blades in his hands. He was intending to kill this child, not just letting him off wounded. He had to do what he promised, plus he felt like he should. Then again, should he...

"Come on you stupid girl! Scream!" Jewel yelled, putting more pressure on her boot, shoving Sakura's face more into the ground. The young princess couldn't breathe that easily, having such a heavy shoe on her head. Sakura was trying not to make her tears loud, or scream; she was sure that Jewel shouldn't have that pleasure.

"I hate it when you're quiet!" she yelled, adding even more pressure to her head. How much weight can a skull have on it before shattering? This elegant woman's boot had to be made of some kind of heavy material. It was no ordinary boot.

"Never. I'll never scream for you." Sakura managed to say, still trying not to cry, but Jewel didn't answer her, just put more weight on her shoe.

"Yes you will! You will when you die!" she said, lifting her foot off Sakura's head. What was going on? Why was she letting her go, or was she? Sakura rose to her feet as fast as she could, and turned to face Jewel. She had sat back down in her throne, staring down at the young princess.

"Why're you, retreating?" Sakura asked, being very careful of her words. The wrong ones could piss this lovely creature off.

"No, I'm just gonna watch you suffer." Jewel replied, putting a smug smile on her tiny face.

"What do you mean? You're not hurting me, or are you gonna send more beasts after me?" Sakura yelled, clenching her fist into tight grips.

"You'll kill yourself. Syaoran is dead." she said, her voice lovely with such words.

"What?" Sakura screamed, dropping her fist to her side. Her feelings suddenly went haywire. Her heart sank to her feet, and shattered when it reached the bottom.

"No! You're lying!" Sakura screamed at Jewel, her voice shrill and whiny.

"I'm not. I speak the truth." she said, her elegant voice cloaking over Sakura's ears. Slowly, the young woman pulled something out from behind her. A served head, but it was Syaoran's head.

"NO!" Sakura screamed, falling to her knees. This couldn't be true! Syaoran couldn't be dead, just couldn't be. He promised he wouldn't die, he had to protect her.

"Sorry your little boyfriend couldn't protect you." she spoke, stepping off her chair, and walking back over to Sakura. She was still paralyzed. None of this could be true, could it? Something inside Sakura told her that it wasn't true, but her heart said otherwise.

"Face it little girl, he's dead." Jewel said, throwing the head into the pool of blood. The splash sounded extremely loud in the silence, and Jewel's footsteps came to a halt. Sakura looked back at the elegant black angel, and stared at her feet. Well, that was strange. Normally she had three white belts on her boot, but now, she only had one. Where did the other two go? Wait a minute. A thought came into Sakura's head. She never thought of it before, but now she did.

"Syaoran's not dead." Sakura said her voice strong and serious.

"Yes he is. I just showed you his head." Jewel spoke, her voice angry once again.

"Nope, all of this is just an illusion." Sakura said, looking around. "I can tell, it's easy. The pool of blood, the flowers, all fake."

"No! It's all real! Stupid girl!" Jewel screamed.

"Want me to prove it?" Jewel didn't answer Sakura, so she smiled broadly, and continued speaking. "The flowers are your demons you've sent after me earlier, in disguise as flowers. The pool of blood is just a vision for me, for when you threw in the false head, it hit the floor straight on, making the splash louder than normal. I also know by the belts on your boot. After all, without them, you can't make any illusions." Jewel stared at Sakura, her eyes filled with anger, and self loathing. Somehow Sakura had figured her out.

"Speechless aren't you, Elegant Valkyrie?" Sakura said, stepping closer.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW MY TITLE?" Jewel screamed, as Sakura came closer.

"I just figured it out. After all I am the Scarlet of Sky." Sakura came face to face with Jewel, and prepared a fist in her hand. Normally she wouldn't fight, but now, she had to. Jewel took one step back, and then turned around.

"Very smart Scarlet, but I must be leaving. I don't have time to chat." she said, jumping high into the air, and vanishing in the darkness.

"I'm not done with you yet!" Sakura yelled into the darkness. Where was she off to so quickly? Didn't matter to her, as long as she was gone. Slowly the illusions began to fade, revealing the corridor it really was. Out of the darkness, stairs formed before Sakura.

"That way!" Sakura thought, running up the steps. She had to reached Syaoran, and help him anyway she could. More than that, she had to stop Jewel, before she really killed him. The illusion was so real, she might just make it true...

He felt the life leaving him ever slowly. It was taking it's time on killing him. Every time his heart beat, pain was sent through his nerves. Every breath he made was taken away, leaving him gasping. Kurogane watched as his visions blurred, and passed away off into darkness. This was the biggest mistake he had ever made. That damned Enchantress did it, and he fell for it. He had sworn revenge on the whore, but more than that, he wanted to correct his wrongs. Deep down, in some little pit in his heart, he felt broken. As he slowly traveled through the darkness, he started remembering Fai. Inside, he almost missed being called those strange names, in fact he did. No one else had dared called him names, or he'd kill them. No matter how many times he threatens the wizard, he continued the name calling. That wasn't his biggest worry though, it was his heart. For a strange reason, he wanted to see that damned magician again, and he felt bad for what he had done. He wanted to change what was wrong, and fix things up all over again, but it was too late. Kurogane was too far away to return to the world of the living. He was dead, and he was stuck with his broken heart, which was full of love for that wizard. Love...for Fai D. Flowright...

"Wake up! I won't let this happen! Kurogane!" a voice shouted. Why did it sound so loud? Louder than normal yelling. Behind the loud shouts, the flicker of fire was heard as well.

"Who are you?" Kurogane thought, afraid to open his eyes, and see darkness or white clouds.

"I am the one you think I am. I am the Heart of Fire."

"Heart of Fire?" Kurogane was shocked, now he must be paranoid. How could he be talking to himself, or was it really someone else.

"Wake up child. I am not gonna stand here and let this happen to this lovely planet. Jaydes will not prevail."

"Jaydes, but she will." Kurogane talked back to it, "According to the prophecy, well, you know,"

"Yes I saw that stupid action you did, kissing that blasted Enchantress, but we can fix it. In order for you to correct your wrongs, I'll have to take control of you, you like it or not." Quickly, Kurogane felt his hands again, and his heart started beating again, or what is something else? His lungs filled with air, and the heart stopped beating again.

"Drat!" the voice crackled.

"What?" Kurogane asked, still retaining his senses.

"You don't have a heart anymore, so I'll have to use mine." it said. Inside, Kurogane's chest began to burn, as the heart made of fire beat inside his human flesh.

"Don't worry kid, it won't hurt you. We need to move, before Jaydes gets a hold of your heart." it spoke, with crackling behind its soft voice.

"Why does she need my heart?" Kurogane asked, as his body started moving forward once again, down the corridor.

"With your heart, she can regain her powers, and kill everyone. Including the Eyes of Ice." it spoke. Kurogane didn't speak, but he thought it. He didn't want Jaydes to win this war, and more importantly, he didn't want that pain to return to his heart...

Slowly he walked up the long stairway, leading to the throne where his master sat. He felt very successful at this fine hour.

"My lady, I have retrieved the key you need to unlock your powers." he spoke, his voice hoarse from carrying the heart inside his throat.

"Great work, Succubus Enchantress. I'm glad I could count on you and you're team." Jaydes spoke, rising from her throne, her long robe dragging along the floor. Coming out of darkened corners of the room, Shaoran, Jewel, and Peppermint stood before there master, and bowed before her.

"It's time I do what is meant to be done." Jaydes said, walking closer to Tsubame. "Give me the Heart of Fire!" Her words were loud, and her hand reached out to Tsubame. Indeed it was true. Inside Tsubame's throat, rested the beating heart of the warrior sent by the Gods. It pulsed inside his neck, beating, and full of life. Tsubame smiled, and stood before his master, and regurgitated the heart out of his throat, into his own hand.

"That's a good boy. You all did well and even better on killing them." Jaydes said, holding out her hand closer for the heart. Her eyes were filled with hunger for power, and destruction.

"On one condition." Tsubame said, pulling the heart away from her.

"What!" she shrieked, getting impatient.

"You keep your promise, towards me and the others." Tsubame said his voice strong and nervous. The rest of the Reflections stood in awe at Tsubame. They had no idea on what promise he had made with this evil mistress.

"Oh yes, your promise, of course I'll keep it. Just give me the heart." Jaydes said, reaching out again. Tsubame slowly brought his hand before him, and held the beating organ to his master.

"As you wish, my lady." he said, his voice down and nervous again. Jaydes' eyes got bigger as her long finger nails grabbed the bloody object, and removed it from the Succubus's hand. She lifted it to her lips, and drank some of its blood, and laughed evilly.

"Yes, I can already feel my power returning to me!" she said, the place beginning to crumble once again.

"No!" a voice echoed through the corridor. Jaydes stopped her laughter, and quickly turned around to see her intruder. The reflections turned as well, all expect Tsubame.

"What?" Jewel said, clenching her fist, as the intruder came into sight. Syaoran.

"How did you manage to find me?" Shaoran said, stepping up to Syaoran.

"Oh, I didn't come alone." he said, resting the blades on the swords on the ground. More footsteps came running out of the darkness. It couldn't be, but it was. Sakura as well.

"That damned girl!" Jewel shouted, stepping up next to Shaoran. "Let me guess the other two are on their way."

"Nope." Peppermint said, standing next to Jewel, "I watched him die. Tsubame took good care of him." He folded his arms over his chest, and started at Syaoran and Sakura.

"You won't win." Sakura said, standing next to Syaoran, and clenching her fists.

"We will beat you." Syaoran said, lifting the swords off the ground, and pointing them at the reflections.

"That, we'll have to see it, to believe it." Jewel said, as shadows began to surround her. This was it, the final battle, or was it...

"Oh no. Jaydes's power is awaken." the voice crackled in Kurogane's mind. They were getting closer, some how he could feel it. He felt his rage building up, and thought about how much he'd like to destroy them.

"How can you tell? Is it the rumbling corridors, or something else?" Kurogane asked, as they moved forward.

"I can sense it. She has your heart now. The Enchantress must of given it to her." he said, as they came into a corridor that's already fallen apart.

"How much further?" Kurogane asked again.

"One more corridor and we'll be there."

"I can't wait." Quickly, the doors fell off the next corridor's entrance, and lead into Jaydes's main chamber. Kurogane could already see Sakura and Syaoran, but they weren't alone. The reflections stood across from them, and on the steps was Jaydes, with that damned one-eye next to her. What a little puppy he was to her, but now, he'd kill him. After what he had done, he'd never forgive him. Not now, not ever...

"We're close, in fact too close." Fai said as they approached behind Jaydes's throne room.

"It doesn't matter. Without you, the whole world is lost." the voice chimed in, kind of relaxing Fai, but not a lot.

"Still, what about Kurogane. He doesn't want to see me." Fai whined, trying to think of any excuse to get out of this.

"Oh I think otherwise." it said, as they entered the falling room. Instantly, Fai saw the one-eyed blonde that Kurogane was so fond of, standing next to an elven woman.

"Is that?" Fai asked, pointing his finger at the woman.

"Yes, that's Jaydes, and next to her is the Succubus Enchantress." Fai stood motionless and felt his heart sank. Across the room, he saw Kurogane floating gently down from the ceiling to the ground, next to Syaoran and Sakura. Before them however, were the look-alikes that this voice spoke about earlier.

"Now, we take action." the voice chimed, walking Fai out from behind Jaydes...

"What?" Kurogane shouted, seeing Fai walk out slowly.

"Fai-san?" Syaoran said, looking up at him. The reflections quickly turned around to see Fai, and were shocked as well. Tsubame however growled quietly under his breath.

"It can't be..." the voice inside Kurogane spoke, with a slight gesture of worry.

"I thought you were dead!" Sakura screamed. Jaydes turned around quickly to see the blonde boy behind her. Indeed it was true, he lived.

"How do you manage to even be here child?" Jaydes growled, having the heart before her lips.

"To be honest I can't answer that." Fai said, being as honest as he could. The voice inside him was silent. Fai looked over at Kurogane, and felt his heart beat faster. He was alive, that was one good thing, and the look in his eyes. He was surprised to see him...

"Fai..." Kurogane said, reaching his hand out. The fiery heart in Kurogane's chest beated faster seeing Fai again. Was it Kurogane's feelings or this creature inside him? If only I could get closer, Kurogane thought, but the one controlling him stayed put.

"FAI LOOK OUT!" Syaoran shouted, but it was a little late. Kurogane saw it all...

Slowly, Fai felt the long, sharp claws leave his back, pulling his heart out with it. How empty he felt. Suddenly, everything felt different. The world was gone, and he was floating on air, in nothingness.

"No!" the voice chimed in, sounding farther away than it should of. What was happening to him? Oh wait, he already knew. He felt like this before, when he was submerge. This time however, he would die. With no heart beating in his chest, it was harder to live, and breathe...

Kurogane and the rest saw the blood spill onto the floor, as the long vampric nails were removed from Fai's body. Kurogane's gaze followed the long nails, to see the hand they were attached to. The Succubus Enchantress, Tsubame. "This isn't needed anymore." He put the beating heart to his lips, and slipped it into his mouth, and let it sit inside his throat, beating rapidly.

"You'll never live, on this Earth on any planet." he grumbled, his voice sounding different with a beating heart inside him throat.

"What the hell? What is your problem?" Kurogane shouted, willing to kill the enchantress, but his body didn't move.

"Come on, move me!" Kurogane thought, but the voice didn't reply. Inside the heart beated faster, filling up with rage and fire.

"I...can't..." it spoke, quiet, and scared.

"Why not? I need to..." but Kurogane fell silent. He didn't see who, or what was behind Fai. How gracious it looked, with its long ice blue hair. Its eyes were closed but, this creature was lovely. Protruding out of its back was large wings, like a demon, but the colours of ice blue.

"No..." the voice spoke again, "not now."

"You know them?" Kurogane asked, staring in awe at the creature.

"Yes, I am surprised that he is alive." it spoke.

"Who is it then?"

"Just who you think. The Eyes of Ice, Caia." his voice fell silent, and then Kurogane felt weak. He felt the heart leave his body, and his knees give out before him.

"Caia, do you remember me?" they said again, standing before Kurogane's fallen body. His hair was long and fiery red and large wings of an angel came from his back. "Caia, please." he said, reaching out. "It's me, Inari..."

Slowly, he opened his eyes again. How long has it been since he has seen the real world. Since Jaydes had him locked inside that crystal, he's been separated from his one and only love. Inari Yaguo, the Heart of Fire. He wasn't with him for all those years, therefore the prophecy was never completed, but now, he was free. He remembered it all, very vidily. A boy, blonde hair, was trapped inside the very same prison as him, and when it was shattered, he was free. He decided to hide in the boy's body until it was time, and now, here he was. When his cold gaze rested upon the one with the fiery locks, he smiled.

"Inari, it's been so long..."

"No! How can you be living? Oh wait, that's right, but it doesn't matter now!" Jaydes screamed, with wicked laughter following her after her sentence. "I have the Heart of Fire. My powers shall return to me." Everyone watched as the evil elven queen ate the beating heart, and watched it go down her thin throat.

"We can't let you win." Inari said, walking over to Caia, and turning to face Jaydes. "We're back, and we will defeat you this time."

"I'd like to see you try." Jaydes snarled, as her hair turned into tentacles. Her eyes turned to little black slits, and her body changed from a human, to a monster. Twelve legs, long mane of hair, and twenty four sets of claws.

"Oh my god." Caia said, holding onto Inari's arm.

"Don't worry, we can beat her." he reassured him, and he and Caia vanished into a new void created by the evil woman...

"Now that they're gone, we have unfinished business to do." Jewel said, facing the group. Kurogane was speechless by what he had seen, along with Syaoran, Sakura, everyone except Tsubame. Kurogane, with all the strength he had left, staggered over to Fai's lifeless, bleeding body. Blood was still seeping out of his tiny body as Kurogane lifted him up slowly.

"Too bad he couldn't stay long." Tsubame chuckled, turning over to Kurogane. "But trust me, it was for the best. Such a fool doesn't deserve to live."

"Shut up!" Kurogane yelled. He glanced over his shoulder at the one-eyed creep, then back at Syaoran.

"Take care of the reflections! I'll deal with the whore!"

"Right!" Syaoran reacted quickly. He and Sakura ran towards Jewel and Shaoran, and quickly started combat.

"Me? A whore? What's the matter with you?" Tsubame said, walking over to Kurogane quietly. "I am more than that.

"Just answer the questions I ask you." Kurogane growled, holding Fai's dead body in his arms. "Why did you kill him?"

"Simple and easy. I am much better than he is, am I?"

"No!" Kurogane was now more than angry. Not only was this Succubus an evil manic, but now a selfish little brat.

"All of this, was for what?" Kurogane yelled again.

"You can't figure it out yet? The first meeting, the kiss at the Temple of Souls, the death of him? You must be dumber than I thought."

"Just answer me! Why'd you do it?"

"Because..." He fell silent before he spoke. Kurogane kept giving him an aggressive look, as he stayed quiet. Suddenly, he spoke up again, turning his gaze away from Kurogane. "I love you..."

"You sure you want to do this, stupid girl? You know how the fight went last time." Jewel yelled over the roaring rain and wind. Fighting outside probably wasn't the best decision, but Sakura had to. She didn't want that Peppermint, or Tsubame interrupting her big moment.

"I don't care, but it won't matter. You don't have a lot of illiusions left to use." Jewel bit her lip, knowing Sakura was right, and smiled.

"Then let's get on with it. Let's fight like men." Sakura nodded, and pounded her fist into her hand. It outta be fun beating the crap out of Jewel, and see how elegant she is after it...

"Alright you slob, this time you won't get away." Syaoran said, holding the blades tighter in his hands. Shaoran stood before him, and this time, Syaoran wouldn't give him mercy.

"Slob? Me? Nope that term goes to someone else." Shaoran said. By the tone of his voice, Syaoran could tell he didn't want to fight, but that didn't bother him. He was gonna kick his ass...

He was completely speechless. What had that one-eyed freak just say? He loved him?

"What?" Kurogane said, holding Fai tighter, and looking at the Enchantress.

"I...love...you..." he spoke ever so quietly, as if he was nervous, or upset.

"Why me? What about the reflection you were supposed to love? He's the one you want?" Kurogane was so mad right now. When he was fighting his reflection, Peppermint, he continued making speeches for his love for Tsubame, but Tsubame didn't love Peppermint. No, he loved him.

"Peppermint wouldn't understand. He doesn't know anything about love, but you do."

"What are you talking about?" Kurogane screamed. "I don't know anything about love, or anything around that subject." He didn't speak once again, but slowly, he faced Kurogane.

"Yes you do. You rescued that magician from that prison. That's love."

"I only did that because he is in our group, and we needed him for the damn prophecy."

"Still..."Tsubame turned away. What was up with this guy? He was acting fairly strange. Could it possibly be love that was bothering him?

"You're a strange one Tsubame. It's just too bad I have to kill you." Kurogane said, getting serious once again.

"It's hopeless. One without a heart cannot live. I apologize for killing you." Tsubame said turning away. "I however, want you to live." Slowly he turned around and ran towards Kurogane. Without a second to think, Tsubame had glomped him, and engaged into another kiss...

Rain fell harder onto the girls as they continued throwing punches at one another. Blood came from their mouths, and shortly, the rain washed it off the ground,

"Have you had enough yet?" Jewel yelled, before she and Sakura started fighting once again.

"Never. Not until you are defeated." Jewel jumped back, a good distance away from Sakura.

"Coward." Sakura said, walking closer to her.

"No please! I do not wish to fight you!" Jewel screamed, backing up farther and farther away from Sakura, but she only came closer.

"You will be defeated." Sakura said, stopping Jewel at the edge of the ledge. Jewel swallowed hard and faced Sakura once more.

"I'm sorry. It could've ended better." Sakura was confused for a second, but not for long. Jewel's last belt on her leg faded and a large boom was sounded. The ledge began falling through a large vortex.

"What?" Sakura screamed as she and Jewel were sucked into the new void. Into blackness...

Syaoran walked closer and closer to Shaoran, who stepped back quickly. He had no intention to fight, just like the others.

"Look back off." Shaoran said, sounding scared.

"Not until you're dead." Syaoran sounded so aggressive, but he was dead serious. Quickly Shaoran had cornered himself, and Syaoran was before him.

"I'll make this quick for you, wimp." Syaoran said, holding one blade up to his skinny neck.

"Please...spare me. We do not wish to fight!" Shaoran said, but Syaoran shook his head.

"Should of thought of that sooner." Syaoran said, slicing through the pathetic boy's neck. Blood flew everywhere in seconds, covering Syaoran with it, and the dead body as well.

"Done, I've completed my mission. Now to the princess." Syaoran said, dropping the blades, and walking out. Big mistake. One of the blades lifted itself off the ground and flung it's into Syaoran's back, piercing his heart.

"No.." he mumbled as his body fell next to Shaoran's, and their blood mixed into one another's...

Kurogane tried pushing the blasted demon off of him, as some kind of object trickled down his throat. He felt it inside his throat, pulsing a steady beat, and sliding down further down his throat. After one long second, Tsubame removed his lips from Kurogane's mouth.

"How do you feel?" Tsubame asked, still catching his breath from the long kiss.

"I feel terrible..." Kurogane shouted, but then reconsidered. What was this happening? A heart was beating in his chest.

"You should feel better, now that you'll live."

"What did you do?"

"I gave you the heart I had inside me." Kurogane sat up, and looked at Tsubame in the eye. It was gorgeous, but he still hated him, even after what he had seen.

"So you mean the heart inside me..."

"Belongs to the Eyes of Ice..." Tsubame wrapped his arms around Kurogane and embraced him into another kiss. He didn't enjoy the kiss at all, but he gave up trying to force him off. He figured it had no point to force him off, he'd only fight back. While enduring this awful kiss, he began thinking of the wizard, Fai. How strange of feelings he had felt for him with his old heart. Then some other feeling came to him. A feeling of love...for himself. It couldn't be! Since he had Fai's heart beating inside his chest, he could feel the feelings he had had.

"If only I knew...I'd protect you, much better than the way I have had." Kurogane thought, closing his eyes, and drifting into deep thought...

A rough tremble broke Tsubame away from his kiss. He got up on his feet when Jaydes had entered the corridor.

"Madam, what's wrong?" Tsubame asked, turning his back to Kurogane.

"I need more power. His heart isn't enough!" Jaydes said her voice hoarse and croak.

"Well...what else could you need?" Tsubame trembled as he spoke to her, because deep down, he was afraid of her.

"I need...another heart..." she growled.

"Then I'll go find one. One full of power and it will help you." Tsubame said, running to the corridor entrance.

"No, that won't be necessary." Jaydes said, extending her nails out, and tightly wrapping around Tsubame. "You are no longer needed." Tsubame's body slowly lifted off the ground then was flying through the air, and his back smashed into a pillar. Blood flew from his lips, and bones shattered, as he hit the floor again.

"Mistress..."Tsubame groaned as she lifted him again, and tossed him over to a stone slab edge.

"You're services are no longer needed." she laughed as Tsubame was launched into another pillar, then launched again, through a glass window, to a seven hundred foot drop to the hard stone ground below...

Kurogane jumped to his feet when the glass shattered. Without being seen by Jaydes, he ran up behind her, and slammed all of his weight into her back.

"What! How're you alive!" Jaydes screamed feeling his pressure against her back.

"Doesn't matter." Kurogane said. He was aware of what he had done. Jaydes had lost her balance, and now, she and Kurogane were free falling after Tsubame.

"Bye bye lady." Kurogane said, detaching himself from her body. He had to fall faster than her, so he could save that wretched Cyclops. He understood his pain. Rejection, unloved, he knew it all. Even though he was a succubus demon, and he killed Fai, he didn't deserve to die, not like this...

"No, Jaydes got away again Inari." Caia said, landing on the stone slab by the broken window.

"Not quite. I've already placed our ticket to victory on her." he assured Caia, putting his arm over his shoulder.

"Really? How?"

"As soon as the young heart of Fire is finished with his needs, it'll kick in. Don't worry Caia."

"Do we have to rush down there and save them from the fall?"

"You ask too many questions, but yes. That child doesn't have wings, and neither does the reflection." Caia and Inari approached the window and looked out at the rainy skies.

"Inari, there is only one more question I must ask." Caia said, breaking the silence between them.

"I'm listening."

"Why is the heart of fire risking his life for the Succubus?" Inari fell silent and thought it over. Would his wise mind even know the reason why? Trying to bluff out an answer, he looked Caia directly in the eyes.

"Cause death isn't the way for revenge..."

Kurogane fell further and further towards the ground, the rain hitting him every so often. To him it seemed he had been falling for ever, but truly, he had been falling for only ten minutes.

"You can't win child!" Jaydes shouted down to him, "I am unstoppable!" Her voice was so croaky; he could barely understand her words. He ignored her the most; he had to save the life of another person. Tsubame...

He had stopped screaming after he could no longer see the floating fortress. This was it, the point of no return. Death was right around the corner, and Tsubame knew it.

"This is it. I should've of known. My dreams are crushed, and I knew it would happen." he thought, closing his eye. He thought if he didn't see it, it wouldn't be as painful. Free-falling. What a feeling it was. So different than what you're used to. You felt so...worthless. Free-falling, into your own death.

"Tsubame!" a voice shouted his name. Was it the demons of hell calling for him? It must be, until he heard the cry again. Opening his eye quickly he saw it. A hand reaching to him, falling towards him.

"Why are you here...Heart of Fire?" Tsubame looked confused, but he reached his hand out, and clasped the strong hand of the Heart of Fire...

"Now!" Inari said, jumping out of the window with Caia close behind. Their wings kept them from free-falling as they came closer and closer to the evil wicked queen. They've already discussed what would happen. Inari would swoop down and save the two; meanwhile Caia would finish off Jaydes. It was a sort of revenge thing. Inari looked over at Caia once more, and nodded to him, then there plan kicked into action...

"I've got you!" Kurogane said, lifting Tsubame up into his arms. Together they fell freely. Tsubame had buried his face into Kurogane's chest, and listened to his racing heart beat.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine!" Kurogane shouted this time. They were falling faster, and the wind was picking up. The warrior stared down at the Enchantress, and then back up again. Flying towards him was a large beast, with wings full of glorious feathers.

"Great work Heart of Fire!" he shouted, the crackle of flames behind his voice. Inari.

"Where's Caia?" Kurogane shouted at him as Inari scooped them both up.

"Don't worry...he's taking care of Jaydes." Inari beated his wings a couple times more, and began flying upward, towards the fortress.

"You...saved...me..." Tsubame mumbled his voice quiet over the roaring wind.

"Of course I did." Kurogane shouted, looking down at him. Tsubame looked up at Kurogane, his blue eye staring at him. With a little smile on his face, Kurogane bent his head down, and kissed Tsubame's forehead.

"Thank...you..." Tsubame whispered, putting his head back into Kurogane's chest.

"No...thank you..."he responded quietly as well. He still needed Tsubame, to bring Fai back, and tell Fai something. Something very important...

Right in the chest. There is where Inari told him to strike. Once he had done that, Jaydes will be gone, destroyed.

"I hope you know what you're doing Inari..." Caia thought, flying faster towards Jaydes. She noticed him right away. The beating of his large ice demon wings was louder than the roaring wind and rain.

"Come closer." she beckoned, waiting impatiently. She extending her nails once more, and waited.

"It's over Jaydes!" Caia screamed, diving himself into Jaydes's chest. Instantly, he hit, and blood covered the surrounding areas.

"Excellent!" Jaydes screamed, reaching her long nails around the Eyes of Ice's body.

"Let go!" he screamed, flapping the wings faster, but he was too late. Inari's plan had indeed kicked into action. After he hit her direct on target, a large black hole formed and began sucking in her body and everything around it.

"Let's go for a joy ride, Eyes of Ice!" Jaydes laughed wickedly, falling further and further into the black hole.

"No! Inari!" Caia shouted, reaching his hand out of the blackness, but his cries were hopeless. The hole had closed, with Jaydes inside, and Caia...

Inari set Kurogane's feet upon the stone floor, and then retracted his wings.

"I'll go out and look for Caia." Inari spoke, flying out the window once more. Kurogane watched him fly away, and then he looked back at Tsubame.

"You need to do me a favor." he said. At first, the reflection didn't look at him, but he spoke quietly.

"I know what you want...but I can't."

"Why not?" The room was silent for a long while, which felt like hours, when it was only minutes.

"Cause...I can't retrieve your heart. Jaydes has it, and she's gone..."

"I don't care. I'd rather be dead than Fai be. Give the wizard his heart back." Tsubame kept his head down, and sighed heavily.

"But...then I'll be lonely without you." Kurogane gently set Tsubame down on his feet and grabbed his shoulders.

"Please...do it for me." Without a second's of hesitation, Kurogane moved his hands around Tsubame's cheeks, and embraced him into a kiss. Tsubame's little hands held his broad shoulders, as they stood in the reflection light of window shining in with moonlight. Once the kiss was broken Tsubame frowned, and nodded.

"I want you happy, and if that is what you want...you'll get it." The reflection began uttering some words, something in a different language and slowly, Kurogane felt lifeless again. There was no more beating inside him anymore. He was heartless, yet again, but it was for a good cause. Then something else was felt. A heart beat? What, no it couldn't be, but it was.

"Wait! I thought you said you couldn't retrieve my heart!" Kurogane shouted, looking at the Enchantress.

"I did, but the heart inside you is mine...but you might want to be by Fai. He'll wake soon."

"Then you'll die without your heart!"

"No...I can live without one. I am a vampire...so I don't need such a thing to live..." Tsubame's body fell off balance, but Kurogane caught it. He felt so lifeless, like a doll. He lifted up his doll-like body, and carried him to a nearby window sill.

"Thank you...Tsubame..." Kurogane whispered, kissing his cheek once more. Quickly, he lifted the Enchantress's side, and ran towards Fai's body. He could already see his chest moving...

Life...it was returning to him. How long had he been out? How long had he been with those things dressed in white? Too long, and who's voice was calling him right now? A soft voice and staying his name so gently. A pulse moved through his body, a nice steady beat. The calling continued, soft calls to him, repeating his name. Slowly...he opened his eyes...

"Fai...are you awake?" Kurogane asked again, resting the young wizard's head on his palm. The icy eyes opened slowly, and stared into the depths of fiery red.

"Kurogane...how long?" Fai asked his voice soft and quiet.

"Too long. Don't worry...everything is taken care of, but there is something I must tell you."

"What is it?" Fai asked yet again.

"Well...I'm not good with words." Kurogane bent his head down, and lifted Fai's head up, until their lips collided. Fai breathed gently and let his arms fall to his sides. He didn't have the strength to move them around Kurogane's body, but he enjoyed it all the same. When Kurogane gasped for air, he looked right at his eyes and whispered quietly.

"I love you..."

"I love you too...Kurogane..."

The ground's crumbling kicked in once again, and Kurogane quickly picked up Fai's body. Since he had just returned from the dead, he still couldn't walk.

"What's happening?" Kurogane shouted looking around frantically.

"Since Jaydes is gone, the place will fall apart and disappear into a black hole!" a voice cried from the darkness. Inari.

"Where's Caia?" Kurogane shouted at him.

"Never mind that!" he yelled, his voice crackling. He held his hands together and then pointed them at a spot on the floor.

"What're you doing?" Kurogane shouted.

"Helping you out! I can't go with you since I have to hold the portal open. You take Fai and his reflection out of here."

"But what about you!"

"Like I said, never mind!" Kurogane had no other choice. No matter how many times he asked, he'd never tell him what was up. Quickly, he ran over to the window sill Tsubame rested on, and carried him in one arm, and Fai in the other. As he ran towards the portal, he looked back at Inari and spoke to him.

"Make sure you get out of here alive." After he spoke, he vanished into the portal of white light.

"I won't..." Inari mumbled, closing the portal Kurogane had entered. He spread his wings once more, and flew out the window into the roaring wind and rain, towards the black hole.

"I'm coming for you Caia. Now we can live together in peace." Inari thought flying head first into the black hole. After Inari disappeared into it, the rest of the fortress was engulfed into the darkness, and then, so did the rest of the planet...

The ground felt like stone underneath his feet. Still holding the blondes in his arms, Kurogane opened his eyes, and looked around. It couldn't be true. He was back before the large temple, the one from the start of this whole mess.

"No..." Kurogane said, his voice fading in disbelief. "It was all a dream?" Wait. It couldn't be. Kurogane took it all into though. He still had Fai in his arm, and his reflection in the other. If Tsubame was still there, it was no dream. Slowly setting the blondes down, he ran off the steps and around the ruin. He figured now he was dreaming. Everything now was not real, but he didn't know it was real. Lying at the base of each corner of the ruin was the rest of the crew members, the reflections next to the original.

"No way." Kurogane thought. He figured Syaoran and Sakura were dead, but they were lying here, at the ruins. Quickly returning to Fai and Tsubame, he took in the facts, and realized he wasn't dreaming.

"Kuro-puu!" a voice shouted. Kurogane wasn't in the mood to shout at them for the nickname, but when he glanced to see who called him, he saw the cream-puff, Mokona.

"Where were you!" he shouted.

"I was here, for a while. You guys were gone."

"For how long?"

"Five minutes, tops." Mokona said. Kurogane stood shocked as he picked up the blondes again. It felt like days in that weird world, but they'd only been gone for that long? Unbelievable.

"Not only that, but Syaoran and Sakura showed up a couple of minutes before you did. But they came with two people that look like them, and so did you, but you never moved." Kurogane didn't comment. It must be Peppermint that Mokona saw. Quickly, Kurogane carried Fai and Tsubame and lied them down in the soft grass, like the others. Shortly after, the old ruin crumbled, leaving only a pile of rubble.

"Well...at least it's all over." Kurogane thought, gathering Shaoran, and Peppermint. He figured to leave them all together, even if they were dead. After lying those two down, he went for the Sakura look alike, but lying on her chest was a black cream puff.

"Mokona, you know anything about this?" Kurogane asked lifted Jewel's body off the ground.

"No, it kind of looks like the other Mokona Yuuko has." After lying Jewel down, he grabbed Sakura's, Syaoran's, and Fai's bodies, and looked at the cream-puff.

"Well there was no feathers, but let's head onto the next world." Kurogane said, almost dropping Syaoran.

"Are you sure?" Mokona asked, looking back at the Reflections. Kurogane nodded.

"Alright. Mokona Modoki ready to go! Waa Hyuu!" The giant wings burst from its back, and sucked up the group into its mouth, and left this world of Terrace...

"I hope...we meet again...sometime..." Kurogane thought while warping. He really thought what he did was right. He smiled and looked down at Fai's body. "Let's hope the best for all." Kurogane looked back up into the lights of the warp, and very faintly, heard the sound of clacking of plastic...

Waking up from rest, Tsubame sat up in the grass. At the same time, the others woke up, and looked at him.

"I'm not dead?" Shaoran screamed, rubbing his neck. "I could've sworn I was dead!"

"Hush!" Jewel hissed, holding the black cream-puff.

"Tsubame what happened?" Peppermint asked, resting his hands on the one-eye's shoulders.

"It's over now..." Tsubame said quietly, looking down at the dirt. Without the group knowing, he smiled a smile full of warmth.

"I hope to see you again...Heart of Fire...I mean...Kurogane..." Tsubame turned to the rest of the group, then at the cream-puff.

"Yes?" it asked.

"Modoki, let's warp." Tsubame said, rising to his feet...

The darkness didn't bother him. He has been walking through it for a long while now. Walking and walking, searching and searching. He didn't bother shouting, for his voice wouldn't carry. The only source of communication was through thought.

"I'm over here. Please find me." the thoughts came into his head, and he followed them. He was determined to find him. Just once more, he could hold him in his arms.

"Over here, please." His plead was sweet, but he sounded in pain. Of course he was in pain; after all, they'd been apart for so long. Almost he himself couldn't bear it. After hours of walking, walking deep into nothingness, a bright light was seen. Shiny and blue, and the sound of chimes rang in his mind.

"Caia..." he thought, running towards, and embracing him in a tight hug.

"Inari..." Caia thought, being embraced in his arms. Now it was finally time. The only time when they'll never be apart. From now on...they'll never separate...not now...not ever. Only until the hour glass of time runs out, he and Caia will be together.

"Let's just hope...this is to never happen again..." Caia's thoughts were filled with sadness, but Inari hugged him tighter.

"I'll never let any of this happen again. Like I've always said to you...I'll always find a way to you..." Inari was right. After being apart for so many thousand years, he had returned to Caia. Those words stayed in Caia's head, and they repeated over and over. No matter how long the time is, I'll always find my way back to you...

OMG THANK YOU ALL FOR READING THIS! If you did, I am completly AMAZED! This story was really long, and wow, I am amazed. Please expect more, once I can get things going!

THANK YOU ALL!


End file.
